SHAPESHIFTING VOCAL ENCHANTMENT

About ten minutes into my first listen to the grating chant that opens this record, I cursed in exasperation and skipped madly to the next track. Forty minutes later, my heart stopped, arrested by the sublimeness of the musical moment.

The chameleonlike voice that had alternately annoyed and entranced me belongs to British singer, writer (The Naked Voice), and "healing/wholing voice"-type workshop leader, Chloe Goodchild. It's an instrument with octaves and genders to spare, from a fierce warriorlike wail (in that irritating first track, "Om Shiva!") to a quiveringly vulnerable "castrato" (the heart-stopping rendition of Purcell's "Remember Me"). "Om Shiva" can still make me see red (well, Shiva is the Hindu god of destruction), but the nine other "chants, mantras and mystical songs drawn from the spiritual traditions of the world" keep calling me back for more.

The main attraction is Goodchild's voice -- and her multitracked voices. Their bold polyphony occasionally strikes gold, as in the lilting Hebraic "Everywhere Longing." For his part, electronic keyboardist/co-producer David Lord (Peter Gabriel, David Bowie) applies just the right notes and timbres (from drones and hand drums, to woodwinds and chamber strings) in just the right amounts to nurture Goodchild's vocal visions along. Surprisingly, for a singing coach, Goodchild doesn't hit every note right on the money in some of the more demanding songs. But this technical imperfection (or deliberate effect) is overshadowed by the sumptuous tonality and compelling focus of that shapeshifting voice, which has premiered a major work by British composer John Tavener and graced some of Angelo "Twin Peaks" Badalamenti's latest endeavours. It's a voice that can repel, but more often it draws you into its sacred space. This is a record to keep close to the heart (along with the remote control).