JILL BARBER – CHANCES
These days labelling someone a revivalist usually carries a stigma; but for Jill Barber, there’s no stigma attached. Her smoky, Canadian music-hall voice naturally leans towards these kinds of love ruminations, and the melodies she’s concocted for this warm record are satisfying exercises in form. Barber’s schtick is one of the open-hearted, wartime entertainer, singing songs of loss and heartbreak, and sometimes plain old sexy get-go. The beautiful Be My Man illustrates the old-fashioned crooner in Barber, and the jungle drums and jumping jazz-boxes come out for the delirious Oh My My. There’s songs for the dreamers, songs about death, of leaving and being left, of home and of far away. It’s a colourful journey, and chock-full of well thought out arrangements. The only criticism that comes to the fore is that the immaculate nature of the orchestral arrangements and super-clean recording takes away some of the potential sass of Jill Barber – she’s an old-fashioned jazz singer that needs a bit of bump n’ grind to work to, whereas here it seems like there’s always a bit of a smokescreen veiling the songs. But this aside, the vibe is right.
***1/2
