The disc includes some cover songs, including Ewan MacColl's classic "Dirty Old Town" (made famous by The Pogues), which opens the album, a slew of traditional tunes and some McCallion originals. The band is absolutely stellar throughout, particularly the guitar work provided by Krieger and Hardy's gorgeous violin playing; still, their contributions are always in service to the song, aiding and abetting but never getting in the way. This is one of the rare times in recent memory that I've been thankful for extended instrumental passages.

Which is not to say that I'm not equally thankful when McCallion's voice re-enters the mix. The veteran has been around long enough to play to her strengths, which she does here. Unlike a lot of Americans who perform traditional Irish music, McCallion has the smarts to not adopt a phony brogue, a tactic that never seems to convince. Still, her cadence is spot-on and her voice is supple enough to adopt to uptempo songs and ballads alike.