Album Review: Collette Sheerin, Watershed Hours

A long times fixture on the vibrant north-western scene that includes the likes of No Crows and Rackhouse Pilfer, the Offaly born, Sligo-based singer-songwriter and flautist has been operating in various guises for much of the past decade. A member of several local outfits including Above And Below The Tide and The Candles and as well as occasionally contributing to No Crows, Sheerin combines ensemble work with her own solo output.

As on her previous albums, here she blends a mellow mix of folk, trad, and country adding her distinctive voice and naturally flowing song-writing style. As the title suggests, Watershed Hours has a late-in-the-evening feel and for the most part explores the emotional, reflective state-of-mind as dusk descends. The atmosphere is at times sombre and the arrangements sparse; haunting textures and a yearning nostalgic vocal underpin ‘Roll Back’, her voice sounding a little like that of 10,000 Maniacs’ Natalie Merchant. The slightly more up-tempo ‘Overactive Imagination’ showcases a more playful lyrical side while ‘Might Just Be’ - a delicate folk song with a hint of an Acadian melody - could easily sit on a 1970s McGarrigle Sisters album. Elsewhere, ‘Western Tales ‘ boasts a compelling melody with layered harmonies while ‘The Long Grass’ - a jaunty upbeat tune recalls Midnight Well another outfit from the distant past with northwest connections. There’s a hopeful message on the sensuous, ‘Daggerboard’ where she croons, “I will find my way back home, perhaps you’ll meet me there,” while the album concludes with the plaintive instrumental title track where lush Major 7th chords are plucked from an acoustic guitar overlain with a lonesome fiddle. Rewarding.