Absolutely breathtaking.

Ancient Shadows is the debut album for Spanish ethereal/goth singer-songwriter and fantasy illustrator, Priscilla Hernandez. Refusing offers from several major labels, Hernandez has released the album on her own label, Yidneth.

Your iTunes application will claim that the album belongs to the “New Age” category, simply because anything that defies classification tends to be labeled that way. This is music for fans of everything from trip-hop acts like Hungry Lucy, New Age acts like Enigma, goth acts like Dead Can Dance and sirens like Sarah Brightman and Loreena McKennitt. There’s something here for everyone that can appreciate the beauty and grace of the female voice. Hernandez has incredible range and ability to evoke a dreamy and soothing state of mind with themes of love, loss, longing and magic both in our world and in those that lie just beyond ours.

If for nothing else, the album is well worth purchasing for the artwork. Hernandez is a talented artist whose favorite subjects are fairies, ghosts and angels. The pages of the digipak are full of illustrations for the chilling and sorrowful stories she’s telling with her music. It’s a perfect blend of talents, creating a fairytale world in which her characters come to life. With lyrics in both Spanish and English and stories behind each track, the booklet is as delightful as the album.

In most reviews, I’ll pick highlights from the album that will resonate with the largest number of listeners, but after several listens, I’m having a hard time doing that, frankly. Out of 19 tracks, I think there might be all of 4 that aren’t immediately standouts. My personal favorites are, “Away,” “The Call of the Nymph,”  “The Realms of Twilight,” “Lament,” and the all too short instrumental, “Fairytale”

www.yidneth.com

http://priscillahernandez.yidnethfanclub.com