Liane Carroll - Seaside - AP Reviews

BREATHE IN DEEPLY, and you can almost sense that familiar, hazy blend of aromas on the breeze: salty sea air, fish'n'chips, candy floss... and then the distant sounds of brass band vibrato and children's play against a reassuring, shingle-stroked ebb tide. It's all conjured by eminent, award-winning British jazz/soul singer Liane Carroll in a new coastal-inspired collection of songs - Seaside.

The vocalist/pianist who brought us such memorable gems as her own, peppy Dublin Morning and a powerfully emotive interpretation of Tom Waits' Picture in a Frame now reaches new heights in this, her ninth album, surrounding herself with a fabulous array of musicians (notably multi-instrumentalist and producer James McMillan). Prompted by friend and renowned singer, pianist and songwriter Joe Stilgoe (who gifted Carroll the wonderfully evocative and wistful title track), here are ten songs inspired by the singer's affection for her home town of Hastings; an inviting musical promenade which encounters sunny exuberance, swaggering grooves and tender, reassuring love, sometimes tinged with melancholy.

That title track is, indeed, a winner - its swirling silver band arrangement and classy, solid, melodic hooks (easily redolent of late Lennon & McCartney) combine with lyrics which tell a story of ardent, carefree, though perhaps seasonal companionship ("We'll always have the seaside"); and love's exhilaration is embodied in the bubbly piano-trio-and-scat burst of Lerner and Loewe's Almost Like Being in Love (or Hove, as teasingly alternatively titled by Liane!). One of this album's exquisite surprises is a thoughtful, mellow rendering of Arthur Kent and Sylvia Dee's Bring Me Sunshine - light years away from Eric'n'Ern's japes, it might warmly pictorialise the cuddled devotedness of a couple looking out across the waves from their seafront shelter.

Led Zeppelin's originally heavy-rocking Nobody's Fault But Mine is effectively reimagined as a gravelly, bluesy strut (featuring Julian Siegel on tenor) - those characteristically wide, soulful vocals as impressive as ever; and the countryfied feel of Fred Lavery and Gordie Sampson's Get Me Through December (previously recorded by, amongst others, Alison Krauss) becomes quietly majestic in Carroll's hands. Evan Jolly's broad, gospel-imbued arrangement of Mary Gauthier's Mercy Now displays all the brassy stature of an Elton John chart high-rider; and Wild is the Wind (from the 1950s movie of the same name) features the lush piano and brass arrangements of Malcolm Edmonstone, its haunting lyricism emphasised by bowed and sustained vibes.

A guitar-accompanied vocal interlude - popular 1930s standard I Cover the Waterfront, which Carroll has always wanted to record - is delightfully decorated by Rob Luft's scampering fret work; and My Ship (Kurt Weill & Ira Gershwin), with a playful vocal timbre reminiscent of Natalie Cole, cruises breezily before switching into fast scat swing. Finally, in recognition of the ever-present dangers of seafaring communities, Liane offers a poignant reading of J B Dykes' familiar hymn tune Melita (words by William Whiting) - For Those In Peril on the Sea‘s reverent vocals are underpinned by Mark Edwards' sublime jazz piano and organ harmonies, enhanced by James McMillan's plaintive flugelhorn.

Seaside consolidates Liane Carroll's position as one of the UK's most expressive jazz/soul vocalists and pianists in an accessible recording which combines unalloyed high spirits with beauteous, heart aching emotion.