I shall make it clear from the start: I am a fan of Secret Garden's music. I enjoy very much the modern Celtic-flavoured style of their compositions and the performance is very good. With respect to quality of music, Once in a Red Moon does not disappoint.

The album opens slowly with Awakening, welcoming the listener into Secret Garden's music. The follows perhaps the most covered and famous of their songs: You Raise Me Up. Having heard several versions of the song (Josh Groban and Westlife) including by church choir boys, I think Brian Kennedy's voice does the best job with Rolf Lovland's beautiful composition.

Two other vocalized songs are present, both with the voice of Kate Matheson. Greenwaves and Gates of Dawn are filled with energy and splendour, using the love for life and nature as a theme, as modern songs with a distinctly Celtic infusion.

Other tracks I think are notable are the title track Once in a Red Moon, a very slow and relaxing piece reflecting the peace of night, quite different from the Eurovision-winning Nocturne yet still beautiful; the more upbeat Invitation and Fairytale, and the closing track Elegie. Fairytale in particular conjures up images of a jaunt in a forest meeting the magical beings of our childhood stories.

All in all, I have found many good tracks on this album that have made it worth buying. The tracks I did not mention specifically are OK in my opinion; I have not been left wanting by any part of the album. If I have to choose something to dislike, it's the shortness of the album, but it could also be seen as quality over quantity.

I recommend this album to Secret Garden fans (who do not already own it) and anyone who enjoys instrumental music, or would want to hear the original and best rendition of You Raise Me Up.

Secret Garden may be a name unfamiliar to a vast majority of folk music enthusiasts but hopefully that will be put to rights if I can get a message across to as many of you as possible. I know it might not be cool to like the ethereal sounds of Enya and Clannad but don't let that distract from the fact that artists who can produce high quality albums of this standard should be given far greater respect than the derisory comments passed by narrow-minded bigots wallowing in self-pity behind the thinly veiled term we call 'folk'. If you are one of those that sneer or look down your noses at this kind of music you are more than likely too set in your ways to want to re-educate yourselves but the rewards will be more than justified if you can set aside your prejudices. Often unfairly dismissed as 'elevator music' the approach taken by Secret Garden's main protagonist Rolf Lovland sees layers of instrumentation that can best be described as a sort of 'folk' orchestra which, alongside the string section and mellow tones of oboe/cor anglais we have Uilleann pipes and mandolin. Meanwhile, Rolf's partner Fionnuala McSherry's violin intonation reveals a more classical background and I suppose (from my personal point of view) this can be seen as a cleansing process from the over saturation of 'folk fiddlers' syndrome. In addition to the gloriously lush orchestration Karen Matheson, Brian Kennedy and the Celtic choir Anuna (amongst others) contribute their vocal talents. This truly is 'folk-soul' music to chill out to and comes highly recommended.

PETE FYFE