Setting her clear voice in arrangements that mix traditional and modern instruments, she maintains the taut, quivering ornamentation of old ballad style, singing tales of love, war and murder with a gentle gravity. --The New York Times
Karan Casey is one of the most influential and imitated vocalists in Irish and American folk music; a natural innovator, she proves that the ancient and the modern make excellent bedfellows. On Ships in the Forest, her fifth solo album and debut with the Compass Records Group, Casey's warm, soulful voice ebbs and flows around ballads both timely and timeless. Produced once again by Donald Shaw (of Capercaillie fame), the album was recorded at Casey's home in County Cork and features the members of her current touring band, Caoimhín Vallely (piano), Kate Ellis (cello) and Robbie Overson (guitar) along with special guests Kris Drever, Niall Vallely and Cillian Vallely.