The Best Of Anúna

After eight recordings and 18 years on the road, it's high time the vocal group Anúna released a 'Best Of' compilation. At 21 tracks, however, the CD is far too long, and the fact that most of these run to less than three minutes (in two cases less than two minutes) gives it a bitty, fragmented feel. Pure piping sopranos and light tenors tend to dominate in the solo department, the exceptions that prove the rule being Miriam Blennerhassett's wonderfully rich, dark, reedy tones on the spine-tingling 'Cormacus Scripsit' and an interesting arrangement that sets Ken Edge's sax against a lush chorus on 'Behind The Closed Eye' ? one of many originals by musical director and founder Michael McGlynn. There's lots of gorgeous music here, but some judicious pruning wouldn't have gone amiss.