Journey Home

It is no coincidence that new age releases often appeal to busy, over-worked, stressed-out professionals. For people who fit that description, the tranquil, calm ambience that new age CDs offer can be a way to cope with a 60-hour work week, car payments, a mortgage, a kid who's starting school, and a second kid on the way. Unfortunately, a lot of new age albums offer ambience and nothing more, but Kathy Zavada, like Enya, is a new age/adult contemporary vocalist who has managed to sidestep new age's limitations by having a strong world music influence. Journey Home, the singer/pianist's seventh album, provides a calm, peaceful atmosphere, but not at the expense of intellect or substance. Zavada, like Enya, doesn't ask listeners to turn their brains off — although Journey Home is soothing, it isn't mindlessly soothing. But while Enya is coming from an Irish/Celtic perspective, Journey Home owes a lot to Indian spiritual music. Traditional Indian tabla drums are among the instruments and Zavada favors the sort of modal playing that has been a part of Indian music (as well as Arabic, Turkish, Greek, Jewish, and Armenian music) for centuries. Some of the lyrics are in English, while some are in Sanskrit (one of India's oldest languages). This self-produced CD contains three hypnotic pieces — "Soham, Soham," "Om Nama Shivaya," and "Find Your Self" — all of which could appeal to either hardcore new age enthusiasts or those who have a more casual interest in that type of music — a world music lover who doesn't care for a lot of new age could still find this CD interesting. Journey Home demonstrates that new age doesn't have to be without a brain.