*** Mary Coughlan

AFTER THE FALL

(V2/Big Cat)

*** Mary Coughlan

LIVE IN GALWAY

(V2/Big Cat)

Art music firmly rooted in enduring themes is rare these days, but that's part of the steadfast brilliance this Irish singer displays on her two most recent recordings. Both live and in studio, Coughlan wraps her alto around words with the passion of a seasoned storyteller imparting indelible truths. Which she often is. On After the Fall, songs like the tale of original sin "Woman Undone" and the low-key epic "My Land Is Too Green" impart an ironic existentialist's view that makes slight offerings like the bawdy story "Lucy's Dream" seem petty. The most affecting number in this deep pool of work may be "Johnny Fell Off the Work-Around," a painful and emotionally rich take on the dissipation of a family under the crush of long-term unemployment.

Both live and in the studio Coughlan demands virtuoso, spare support that lets her work her phrases until they ring with character. Guitars add country-music flourishes, the pianos and accordions are always contemplative, and the traditional instruments like whistle and uilleann pipes are pared back enough to flavor the music without binding the arrangements to Celtic-folk clichés. The result is something akin to ambient cabaret music. Coughlan may prove to be the Lotta Lenya of the '90s.

-- Ted Drozdowski