For singer Claire Martin, 1999's Take My Heart signaled a major shift in direction, as she moved from the world of standards and acoustic jazz to pop songs and production values. Perfect Alibi proceeds further in the transformation of Martin from jazz singer to mainstream pop artist, but her exceptional voice is still impressive, with its subtle blend of transparency and rich harmonics and her sense of a lyric's secret recesses. Producer and engineer Paul Stacey and fellow multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Glasson provided the arrangements, Stacey's for a small group...read moreFor singer Claire Martin, 1999's Take My Heart signaled a major shift in direction, as she moved from the world of standards and acoustic jazz to pop songs and production values. Perfect Alibi proceeds further in the transformation of Martin from jazz singer to mainstream pop artist, but her exceptional voice is still impressive, with its subtle blend of transparency and rich harmonics and her sense of a lyric's secret recesses. Producer and engineer Paul Stacey and fellow multi-instrumentalist Charlotte Glasson provided the arrangements, Stacey's for a small group with his own guitars, electric bass, and keyboards, and Glasson for tracks with a mini-orchestra of strings and winds. The overdubbing--Glasson plays viola, flute, and baritone on "How Can I Be Sure?"--rules out the interaction that fueled Martin's early CDs. The songs come from writers as varied as Laura Nyro, John Martyn, and Todd Rundgren, but it's more a matter of what catches Martin's imagination than any innate qualities that determine the results. Jimi Hendrix's "Up from the Skies" never suggests a rationale, but Al Kooper's "More Than You'll Ever Know" is a soulful success. "People Make the World Go Round" is superb pop, with Martin's breathy alto an emotional reservoir amidst the light pop of the background. There's a resonant depth to Martin's voice, an ineffable quality that lends an elegiac depth to some of these songs, often making them utterly different from their original recordings. --Stuart Broomer read less
/cover.jpg "Array - Things We Do For Love (Instrumentals)")
