|
“Horses and High Heels” will hardly astonish anyone familiar with her work over the last twenty years – the same throaty, almost spectral, voice is tracked by impeccable mid-paced baroque playing – but it will impress nonetheless. Her foremost skill has often been recognised as interpretation, and her canny knack for song selection holds good on a bevy of classic soul numbers as well as offerings from Cave, Dulli/Lanegan and others. As usual she’s careful to avoid predictable overworn standards, but her rendition of “Goin’ Back” genuinely does makes all other versions (including some real belters) seem second-best, while a stately reading of the Shangri-La’s “Past, Present and Future” is unrecognisable but brilliant. It’s her own four compositions which raise the stakes here however, including the rolling, reflective “Prussian Blue” and the plaintive “Why Did We Have to Part?” Every inch the equal of anything she’s borrowed or been given in the past, these tracks promise much of what the lady may present us with in the future.
|
