WEA
New Age, 2001

The best way to describe Caroline Lavelle’s music is Joni Mitchell at her most hollow, cavernous, and melancholic crossed with violins, orchestra, and New Age kookiness. Brilliant Midnight is a more cohesive effort than Ms Lavelle’s debut Spirit, but it’s still an uneven one.

Father Than the Sun, Anna Rising, and Firefly Night are beautiful, ethereal tracks where Ms Lavelle’s voice soars like crystalline sunlight over gentle violins and bagpipes and whatnot. Most of the tracks here manage to be interesting and engaging without being mere elevator music. It’s a beautiful experience, Brilliant Midnight.

But if I listen to the album non-stop, the songs tend to blur and become one long track though. Best taken in small bits when one is need of some musical escape from real life.