Breaks your heart and then mends it again
I saw/heard Julie Fowlis (link to her website) as part of an arts festival in Galway a few years ago and found myself alternately with tears pouring down my cheeks and unable to stay seated because of the need to jump, jig, whirl and dance. She has a voice of great and effortless purity, musicality and heart. To listen to Julie sing is to be convinced that opening your mouth and having heavenly sounds pour forth is our natural birthright. Alas that probably isn’t true; its just that her voice is so natural and seemingly uncontrived.
Unless you speak Gaelic (or perhaps another of the Goidelic languages) you won’t have a CLUE what she’s singing about (nor will you care) You’ll just be amazed at her apparent facility to be singing tongue twisters with precision and speed (try Puirt-a-Beul-Set and I defy any listener to stay composed and seated!)
The charm, skill and passion of these songs are beautifully rendered by Julie and the musicians with fiddle pipe and drum – and for those coming to her music via MP3 and so missing the lyrics in translation I think you can find them in translation on her own site
It may or may not aid your enjoyment!
Unfortunately this particular album is not available to listen to on mp3 on Amazon, but the store page of Julie Fowlis’ site DOES have tracks on 30 sec listen, though you may have to download a particular player
However, the Youtube video IS of one of the tracks. Curiously, what the video doesn’t do justice to is the way Julie engages with and connects with a live audience. I suspect there was a degree of ‘production for camera’ in this – I’ve seen her in concert on a couple of occasions now, and she is one of those performers who seems to sing just for you alone. All several hundred of you.
Lady Fancifull 
This was an unexpected treat. I would cross the pond, just to attend an arts festival in Galway. I once had the fortune to attend a three day Irish music festival in the states, with all of my most beloved Irish musicians playing. Held in a rustic Inn, as the intimate event was getting underway for the opening session, a storm surged and the power went out. The musicians played by candlelight, and all of us gathered round in the dark listening to the most soul haunting music ever, with the sounds of the storm in the background.
Well I’m sorely tempted to say it was probably the piskies causing both the storm and the power failure, just to ensure you heard the music in the atmosphere it SHOULD be heard in, for greatest effect!
I think its the fiddle which gets me most in Gaelic, and Irish music. It somehow creeps into your heart and starts pulling, pulling pulling it, in a way which is so beautifully painful that the only possible response is to weep (silently, if possible) but very very soggily.
Must upload some more Julie from my back catalogue of reviews. I think Mar a Tha Mo Cridhe and Uam are both available on mp3 listens.