Yeats to Music by the Brandies Band is the second album of music derived from the poetry of W.B. Yeats that I've reviewed in the past year. Neither, surprisingly, made any effort to make the music sound Irish, but in both cases the results of setting Yeats' immortal words to new melodies worked pretty well.

This one, which includes 10 songs in a stylized folk-pop blend, comes from a Belgian band led by singer-songwriter Kris Van den Branden. He, according to the accompanying notes, wrote all the music and arranged the songs for this recording. This is the band's debut release.

It's pretty good. Not great, not extraordinary, but quite enjoyable. Kris puts a lot of heart into his vocals, writing emotion from Yeats' poems. To my ear, he sounds a lot like a young Chris de Burgh, which is not a bad comparison.

According to the notes, Kris was inspired as a student at the University of Antwerp in Belgium when he attended a course on Irish poetry by guest lecturer Brendan Kennelly, also an Irish poet and novelist of note. It was to satisfy a challenge by Kennelly during that course that Kris wrote his first Yeats-inspired songs: "Lullaby," "The Song of Wandering Aengus" and "Crazy Jane on God," all of which appear on this album.

He added to the catalogue of songs over the years -- it's not clear from the notes how long ago Kennelly's class influenced his writing -- and finally decided to record the results. I'm glad he did.

The songs are definitely more pop-inflected than folk, and while the liner notes mention "musical references to Irish folk music," they're not readily apparent. Enjoy the album for what it is, a nice folksy interpretation of some amazing poetry. My favorite tracks include the lively opener, "Red Hanrahan's Song about Ireland," as well as "Wandering Aengus," "No Second Troy," "September 1913" and the stirring elegy, "An Irish Airman Foresees His Death."

Joining Kris on the album are family members Glenn, Veerle, Evelien, and Hannelore; Kris and Veerle also sing in the a cappella group Factor 7.

I like this album. Still, as I said last year when I reviewed Kyle Alden's Songs from Yeats' Bee-Loud Glade, I'd really love to hear Yeats' poetry interpreted into songs with more of a traditional Irish flair. (I'm sure it's out there, it just hasn't crossed my threshold yet.)

[ visit the Brandies Band website ]