The subtitle of Fiona Mackenzie's album Archipelago is Songs of the Scottish Islands in Scots & Gaelic, and that gives a reviewer a first dilemma of recording the track names in English or Scots or Gaeilge. In the end having listened and been entranced I decide it didn't matter -- the music speaks in a tongue of its own, and Fiona hypnotizes, especially when singing a song where I have not the faintest idea what the lyrics mean.

"Cumha Iain Ghairbh," which opens this CD, is a case in point. On "Journey Back to Arran" we can almost feel the sea spray and the roll of the boat through this lovely arrangement, and we stay seaborne on "The Unst Boat Song" from Shetland Island.

We are on more familiar ground with the rousing "Smuggler," on which Alex Hodgson takes over lead vocals. This is another of those wonderful songs that transport us in lyrics, intonation and music to a land we might never visit in real life. We feel that we are rolling, singing and drinking with the smugglers and pirates.

Listen to the "Eriskay Love Lilt," and if your education was in Ireland the first lines will transport you to your childhood, but I for one never recalled the rest of the song. Listen and be entranced at what a beautiful song so many of us missed.

I particularly like the evocative "Marion's Lament," with its descriptive lyrics and tune. The album closes with a beautiful song called "The Lillies" from South Uist.

This is a beautiful album that soars above the possible handicap of lyrics in foreign tongues if we just sit back and let the sounds wash over us like the waves on those mystic islands depicted. If you're really curious the insert gives an explanation and translation, but listen initially without consulting this and enjoy the aural experience.