**1/2 Heidi Berry

MIRACLE

(4AD)

Berry's idol is Sandy Denny, but this New York-based singer/songwriter doesn't bring anything original to folk. Her third album, Miracle, does take some risks by mixing acoustic and electronic instrumentation, including real strings, dulcimers, effects-laden guitars, and Mellotron, as well as Celtic and Indian influences.

Yet this attempt to combine a new-agey feel with the traditional folk voice-and-guitar union just doesn't work. "Miracle" is a melodramatic love song whose trite chorus lyrics drag on and on. When you've just about given up, it surprises with a subtle but powerful bridge -- Berry singing unaccompanied -- only to lapse back into the overwhelming chorus. "The Californian," "Time," and "Holy Grail," on which Berry shares the lead with violinist Anne Wood (from the Raincoats), provide an almost mystical experience. But humdrum lyrics and repetitive choruses shatter your dreamlike state. Apart from its lack of originality, Miracle suffers from cluttered arrangements. On "Time," Berry's pure-but-honest voice showers over the steadfast, almost African beat of the drum as a drowning violin fights for independence. But nobody wins: the violin, the drums, the voice all lose their character as they struggle to unite.

-- Anna Lazebnik