Alison Moyet Album: “Voice”

Recently I been listening to the Alison Moyet's most recent album "Voice" more and more and truely feel its addictiveness.

I have been a fan of hers since I was a little boy as it all started with a group called Yaz (yazzo). Ever since, her voice has been one of the most memorable voices in the music scene for me. After her departure from this synthpop legendary band (Alison Moyet & Vince Clarke) to pursue her solo career, she moved further and further away from the sound she started out with (somtimes good, other times not). With "Voice", its a chapter of her career that shines so brightly. Although only a cover album, its defiantly one of her strongest releases to date. This time she took her voice to another level as she teamed up with Anne Dudley for a twisting ride of dark classical orchestra with a twist of soft soothing jazz that melts so well with Alison's mesmerizing voice. She may have tried something new in terms of style and delivery, but she has succeeded beyond words. Her delivery from "windmills of your mind" to the sexy French singings of "la chanson des vieux amants"...there is no stopping. She has certainly aged like good wine as not only her voice sounds top notch, but so does her looks. She looks more beautiful now than she ever did throughout her long career.

This is a cool blue jazz album featuring the warmest female vocalist and the most talented orchestral arranger of our day. The product is charming, soulful and inspiring. Like a whole album full of That Ole Devil Called Love. This CD makes me want to sing.

"Voice" is an excellent set with Alison Moyet's strong & expressive vocals exploding on a collection of familiar tunes that are polished by her treatment. "Windmills of Your Mind" was the song around which she built the project. Long one of her and her mama's favorites, Alison hugs the melody like a fond embrace. The Michel Legrand melody with Marilyn & Alan Bergman lyrics merits classic status, "Round like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel, never ending or beginning on an ever spinning reel, like a snowball down a mountain or a carnival balloon..." It's a gorgeous track, a fine beginning. For many years, Liza with a Z had my heart on the Gershwin classic "The Man I Love." In the liner notes, Alison recounts how her search for material was through sheet music rather than recordings so as not to be influenced by other singers' interpretations. On this track she knew only the first two lines & fills the deep emotions with Derek Watkins' fine horn aching dreamily. Moyet is a major Elvis Costello fan. "Almost Blue" is a melody whose glow grows with repeated listenings while on Costello's Burt Bacharach collaboration, "God Give Me Strength," she brings new shadings and a sense of quiet strength & resolve. "Cry Me A River" has been recorded by artists as diverse as Joe Cocker, Aerosmith, Joan Baez, Jeff Beck & Ray Charles. Its amazing emotional wallop is sometimes overplayed as if by bad actors in a melodrama. Here, Moyet gives the song a bit of tease and sass in nuance while Julian Jackson's harmonica emphasizes the melody's deep sweet sadness. On the bonus track version Alison takes Bacharach's "Alfie" and lets the melody flow through her with the little trill on "if only fools are kind." All of the tracks here are strong from the French songs to "Bye Bye Blackbird." If I had any constructive criticism, I'd have enjoyed a couple uptempo toe tappers to vary the pace a bit. But Alison does an excellent job on this powerful performance. Enjoy!

Covers albums can be awkward things but, in the capable hands of Alison Moyet, such a project is born with ease. Never one to rest on her laurels, Moyet (in the company of Oscar-winner, Anne Dudley) elegantly commandeers a stunning breadth of standards and classics without veering into lowest common denominator territory.

Freed from the constraints of songwriting, Alison Moyet uses her instrument, that incredible voice, to delve into the character and spirit of each song. Imbuing each one with her unique character and charm, she manages to make "The Wraggle Taggle Gypsies-O" and "Bye Bye Blackbird" sit comfortably alongside Elvis Costello's "Almost Blue." The songs are set in completely acoustic, orchestral arrangements and the listener needs to remember that this is definitely NOT a pop album. The tempo is muted and the song selection is drawn from opera, pop, folk and jazz. This is music for grown-ups and repeated listening pays dividends.

Highlights - and, boy, there are many! - include the assured jazzy delivery of "The Man I Love" and "Cry Me A River"; the heartbreak of Bacharach/Costello's modern gem, "God Give Me Strength"; the heart-stopping darkness of "Dido's Lament"; and Brel's incredibly beautiful love song, "La Chanson Des Vieux Amants".

Make no mistake, these songs are no longer in the common domain: they are now utterly Alison Moyet's.

Best known in the United States with her niche fame as the lead singer for the synth pop duo Yaz (Yazoo in their native UK) whose first album "Upstairs at Eric's" which took four years to go gold and seven to go platinum via mostly word of mouth, Alison Moyet has never achieved the level of notoriety in the US that she has in the UK. Her solo career has produced only one US hit, "Invisible" which was written by the legendary Motown team of Holland Dozier Holland and reached #31 in the late spring of 1985.

This album isn't, unfortunately, likely to expand her notoriety in the US but it is probably the finest album of her solo career. Skeptics can be forgiven being leery of yet another "standards" album by a contemporary pop singer because so many of those have proven to be bland exercises. This one is not. Kicking of with a sultry cover of "Windmills of Your Mind" the set contains selections from variety of writers, ranging from Brut Bacarach, George and Ira Gerswhin, and Elvis Costello. There is even a traditional English ballad here in "Wraggle Taggle Gypsies O." It is difficult to imagine how one makes selections like this into a cohesive statement, but Moyet does and the orchestra she sings with is never obstructive or distracting. This is, ultimately, a recording that must be heard to be believed.