Search - Sin'e :: Deep Water Dropoff

Sin É gradually moved away from their traditional Irish roots with their second album, It's About Time, and their major-label debut finds them blossoming into a full-on jazz-funk-folk marvel. Instrumentally, those roots are still showing through the whistles and pipes of James O'Grady and Gerry Diver's fiddle, the strength being that the band places them within a variety of different contexts. Indeed, it's an indication of how much Sin É have grown that the only comparatively weak moments come when they play the straight Irish card. Far more effective are the journeys into other sounds and rhythms, such as the tabla-led "Serial Transparencies," the disco beat of "Something Seven," or the frequent touches of jazz piano and percussion. Vocalist Taz, meanwhile, contributes a performance that towers above her contemporaries--finding herself most at home on the pop feel of "Will Your Love" and "Wrap Me," although the French ballad "Rossignolet" is delivered with ease. And unlike some who have gone before, Sin É have harnessed technology rather than being tied to it--the mix of grooves, strings, and samples on "Saoirse" is perhaps the album's finest moment. --Phil Udell