Thomas Barquee - Temple (2000)

Following the lead of female singers like Lisa Gerrard, Thomas Barquee layers spiritually inspired vocals over spare, synth sounds straight out of the new age bin. The result is everything you would expect: spare, hypnotic, inspirational, and beautiful. The depth of his smooth alto is a new sound in this style of music, evoking Gregorian chants and qawwali singing as much as temple invocations, but the result works well and in the end, this recording provides a near transcendent experience in music.© Stacia Proefrock /TiVo