Liane Carroll - Seaside - The Observer

The seaside in question is Liane Carroll's home town of Hastings, and also the album's title song, written for her by Joe Stilgoe. It's a haunting piece, beautifully arranged, which brings out her extraordinary ability to absorb the essence of a song and deliver it with such candour that you scarcely notice the artistry involved. Sometimes, too, she finds unsuspected depths in a well-known song, as she does here in Bring Me Sunshine (of Morecambe and Wise fame). At other times she simply explodes into a flurry of high-speed scat, apparently for the pure delight of being able to do it. As with all Liane Carroll's albums, there's far more here than can be absorbed in one go.