Search - Karl Jenkins :: Adiemus III: Dances of Time

Adiemus is a studio creation of Karl Jenkins, the former Soft Machine keyboardist whose first album, Songs of Sanctuary, spawned the unlikely hit "Adiemus," heard on a Delta Airlines ad and compiled on the mega-selling Pure Moods collection. Plugging into Gregorian chant, ethereal Celtic music, the hybrid language of Lisa Gerrard (Dead Can Dance), and the layered vocals of Enya, Jenkins hits all the exotica buttons. His Enya is Miriam Stockley, who can sound like a boys choir or an African tribe. The initial Adiemus album had an undeniable charm and exoticism, and, despite its advertising lineage, gorgeous melodies. While Adiemus II was mired in Jenkins's symphonic aspirations, Adiemus III regains some of the charm of the original. But Jenkins's writing is overly precious, drawing on superficial aspects of global dance rhythms that make Adiemus come off like Disney's "It's a Small World After All." --John Diliberto