Bittersweet and Blue (UCJ)
As autumn comes, so too does a bevy of female singers exploring the spaces between pop and jazz — Nellie McKay, Angela McLuskey, Polly Scattergood . . .
The 22-year-old Gwyneth Herbert is more jazzy than most and has already acquired the tag “Britain’s Norah Jones”. Her debut release on a major label covers a lot of bases — there’s jazz nostalgia (Every Time We Say Goodbye); pop angst (At Seventeen, Only Love Can Break Your Heart); as well as three lightly jazzy compositions by Herbert and the guitarist Will Rutter. But the crux of the problem with this album lies in the opener, Fever. There may be some people who haven’t heard this barnstormer getting a seeing-to from Peggy Lee, Elvis, the Cramps — or indeed Auntie Doris at karaoke. But not many. Herbert is a hugely assured, sensual vocalist who can live a lyric, but it’s tough to claim as your own a song that’s been around the block as often as Fever.
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If you’re a listener who just wants good songs well sung (and — surprise — the record moguls find that many of us do), then Herbert does the job. Indeed, for the young fogey in your life this could be record of the year. But if Herbert is as good a songwriter as her record company claims, why not include more of her own material? With the wide range of covers, you may be left wondering after 50 minutes just who the real Gwyneth Herbert is.
John Bungey