This is an album that demands attention and many plays to finally start to get to grips with the vast canvass on display.
Find out more by following the above link to Glen Boyd's earlier review or by visiting PJ's own website.
Marie Modiano – Outland
Any album that opens with something as exquisite as “Searching For Pearl” deserves a gentle reminder to bring it back into the focus of anyone that may have missed it.
It was the reference to Jimmy Campbell that initially caught my eye on Marie’s MySpace page. Jimmy of course was one of the more unsung songwriters drinking for the well of brilliance that was sixties Liverpool. I reviewed his re-releases on Classic Eurorock recently.
Marie Modiano peers at you from the cover alive with style and mystery. Her career has seen her as an actress starring with her sister in La Vie Privee and, of course, as a singer. Her music explores many of the far reaching passions of her life within a style that shifts effortlessly between folk, pop, jazz, and just a touch of the avant-garde that is slightly reminiscent of Nico.
She steps from one style to another as if crossing a river on stepping stones. Songs of bittersweet experience sit alongside moodier journeys through the darker side of life. She displays a freedom of expression and performance which makes this album, Outland, a joyful experience.
Her voice radiates the character and style of the album’s cover, often husky, sometimes delicate, always wide ranging, and engagingly dreamlike. Her first album I’m Not A Rose paved the way for Outland, an album of twelve songs that somehow seamlessly combines all of the above contradictions.
The excellent opening of “Searching For Pearl” leads to an equally impressive summer day soaked “Drifters In The Wood”. “Martin” is a beautifully written and performed folk-styled acoustic song, whilst “Spider’s Touch” is purely playful pop.
Strangely Marie can achieve all of these whilst delivering impossibly stylish tracks such as the melancholic highlight of “Shiny Sunday In Berlin” along the way. Too good to miss.
More details on Marie Modiano can be found on her MySpace page.
It's too hot to sit here at this computer. So I'll be back out into the sun. If you are looking for something to lie back and listen to this summer, then these two are well worth exploring.
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