Dawn McCarthy's songs conjure medieval folk tunes, beatnik coffee-house poetry, and avant-garde sound sculptures. All of which sounds like it could be a disaster, until her extraordinary voice and her fine sense of musicality is brought into the equation. Together with her musical partner Nils Frykdahl, McCarthy conjures whole fantasy worlds, incorporating wildly imagined prog rock extravaganzas such as "Carousel with Madonnas" and micro-operas like "A Mother and a Piano." In this album of artistic contrasts, the tumultuous "Fear March" is a Goya-esque evocation of the chaos of war, while the harmonies to "Old and Light" evoke ancient pagan midwinter rituals.