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Gospel Oak

by Sinéad O'Connor

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Sinead O'Connor's first release since the 1994 album Universal Mother was 1997's six-song EP intriguingly titled Gospel Oak. Lost in the startling collapse of EMI Records, it reappeared on Columbia, and American listeners have a second chance to enter its world of soothing, unhurried Celtic-rock. Despite the title, this outspoken critic of Irish Catholicism hasn't made a religious record, although it might be described as spiritual. Somewhat less than profound, it is nonetheless quite appealing in its modest way.

It opens with one sweet, reassuring lullaby, "This Is to Mother You," for an adopted child, and adds another, "Petit Poulet," two songs later. There's a rumbling rhythm underneath supplied by O'Connor's husband/producer/drummer John Reynolds, but the foreground is dominated by acoustic instruments that encourage the warm, whispery side of O'Connor's voice. Even when she turns to love songs for herself ("I Am Enough for Myself") or for Reynolds ("My Love"), the hushed gentleness of the vocals and arrangements make it seem as if she were still singing in a child's nursery. "This Is a Rebel Song" may borrow its title from Bob Marley and its theme from the ancient English/Irish conflict, but it, too, has the qualities of a child's fairy tale, suggesting that the two countries are like quarreling lovers who only need marriage counseling.

For all its charm, though, Gospel Oak reminds one of O'Connor's weaknesses. When she pushes her voice, it has a tendency to go thin and shrill (most noticeably on a live version of the old Irish folk song, "She Moved Through the Fair"). And her lyrics often strain for a meaningfulness they rarely grasp. --Geoffrey Himes