Fiona Mackenzie

Celtic Connections 30th Jan2009

ST ANDREW'S IN THE SQUARE, GLASGOW

****

WITH her ethereal voice and distinctive, quirky arrangements, Fiona Mackenzie affords a plaintive drama to the sometimes insubstantial narratives of her songs, impressionistic tunes that brood on doomed relationships, though Everybody Knows and the impassioned Duisg Mo Chridhe are unqualifiedly beautiful. The Scotsman
- The Scotsman

Greenock Folk Club @ The Loreto Club, 16th Feb 2008
Dumbstruck, spellbound, mesmerised, hypnotic and every other word you can think of that could describe how Fiona had the audience eating out of her hand” Harborlite Music
- Harborlite Music

Celtic Connections - Friday 1st February 2008
The first gig of my three days at Celtic Connections was Fiona Mackenzie’s launch of her stunning debut album, "Elevate." The beautiful recital room in Glasgow’s City Halls looked like the perfect venue for Fiona’s ethereal vocals; a large room painted icy-white with subtle coloured lighting to add atmosphere. Fiona was note-perfect in delivering a selection of the exquisite songs from "Elevate," her quivering vocals providing spine-tingling moments on the slower numbers whilst unleashing a wave of power on some of the faster Gaelic songs. I think that "Elevate" will appeal to a much wider audience than the traditional folk audience," Mike Wilson - Green Man Review

"Elevate" is incredibly original, ‘folk' but only if you put a gun to its head and force it to pick a genre - most folk albums aren't quite this inventive, quite so other-worldly.
Minimal accompaniment in parts, added to Mackenzie's ethereal vocals, plus some wonderfully kooky lyrics and great pop tunes (listen to At the Bottom of the Sea), make this a sensuous treat.
"Elevate" is a haunting, exciting debut, and this Kate Bush meets Bjork of the Isle of Lewis is the voice taking traditional music to places it's seldom been before. Shelley Marsden, The Irish World
- The Irish World

Mackenzie has penned some deliciously enigmatic lyrics, shot through with an endearing kookiness and wrapped up with catchy pop melodies. Sounding positively sensuous and evocative on the numbers with minimum accompaniment, Mackenzie often displays a somewhat fragile voice that only adds to the distinctive feel of the album. The Bottom Of The Sea may well be the best grown-up "pop" song you will hear all year, whilst the swirling mysticism of the title track is spectacularly uplifting………………"Elevate" is a tremendously impressive debut; well-written, beautifully sung and exquisitely produced. I can't recommend this album highly enough, nor run out of enthusiasm for singing its praises -- I know it's only January, but this has "album of the year" written all over it! Mike Wilson, www.folking.com - Folking

26 May 2008
Atlanta Audio Society

Fiona Mackenzie, red-haired native of the Isle of Lewis off the west coast of Scotland, has been writing and performing her own songs since her early teens. In Elevate, she sings eleven of her self-penned lyrics in English and Gaelic. Gentle, wistfully sad and reflective, but never depressing, her songs have a haunting beauty that reflects her Celtic heritage. Are they basically folk or contemporary? Fiona's inventive style as a songwriter and her way with a lyric as singer makes you realize such idiomatic distinctions aren't worth a brass farthing.
The songs themselves are "about" love with all the conflicts of the heart that the word implies: wistful longing, optimism, the ecstasy of being loved, the pain of being jilted, nostalgia and regret. (Who was it who once said, "The heart has its reasons that reason knows not of"?) Titles include "When the sunny sky has gone," "In Between," "Bye bye," "At the bottom of the sea," and "A little while longer." Her lyrics have an evocative quality for which the wistful fragility of her voice is ideal: "I couldn't write a letter / but I'd know the words I'd say / I couldn't telephone you / but I'd hear you calling me / I couldn't watch the stars / fall quietly to the moon / but I'd still see your face / at the bottom of the sea." Charming!
Some of her lyrics are more subtle, as in the ironic comment on the end of a love as seen by the observer and felt by the party affected: "Too many people turning their heads away / from the picture, so nobody sees / "it didn't happen" I heard a man say / "you can't trust a mind if the mind isn't yours / and if it's your mind it's best not to know" (Lots of People).
Supporting Fiona's vocals are co-producer Calum Malcolm (piano, electric piano, organ, accordion, bass, programming); Brian O hEadhra (vibrato guitar, bouzouki, bodhran); Stuart McCredie (electric guitars); Quee McArthur (bass); Dave Stewart (drums); Mairi Campbell (strings); Matt Backer (vibrato and wire guitars); and Julien Arguelles (saxophone). A nice variety of timbres, that, but used subtly and discretely so the right instruments always back up the right moments. Recommended as a refreshing change for those who want something more in their popular music culture.
- Atlantic Audio Society