Despite an impeccable pedigree that goes back to the bands Na Sulteoiri and Oisin in the '70s, Geraldine McGowan is one of the most unsung female singers on the home folk circuit, a situation partly exacerbated by her domicile in Germany where she is one of the dominant figures on the live music scene.

All that should change forthwith, as Timeless, her third release for Magnetic, sees her apply her intimate vocal style to an exemplary mix of trad songs and pairs of contemporary works by both Kieran Halpin and Sandy Denny.

The pulse of the opening 'Blackwater Side', whose percussive feel is further in evidence in Halpin's 'Don't Come Looking', emphasises her willingness to look beyond the narrow confines of what some deem permissible in Irish folk music. Nor would many trad singers have the wit to take on a song with references to crushed velvet and Doc Martens as easily as McGowan does with Halpin's 'Mirror Town'. Her version here further benefits from a rhythm section that kicks it along without knocking it over.

Her take on Denny's 'One Way Donkey Ride', with its delicate harmonies, is pure magic and 'Galway', based on a poem by Gogarty but with some captivating music from Tony Small, thankfully avoids the schmaltz Irish singers often mistake for sentimentality.

McGowan enjoys sterling support along the way from Brian O'Connor on flutes and whistles and Chris Jones' guitar and keyboards and they both get to show their paces on a few tunes, with 'The Saltwater March', complete with its inventive march section at the end, particularly worthy of close attention.

Timeless is a particularly effective collection since it looks to the past but does not live there. It shows McGowan staking an incontrovertible claim for an overdue place of honour among the elite of Irish singers. Her interpretations of even the oldest songs makes them relevant to today. And tomorrow.