“Fly me to the moon/And let me play among the stars/Let me see what spring is like/On Jupiter and Mars” my roommate would sing during his daily, hour-long shower. Seriously, his room hadn’t seen the up-side of a vacuum in six months, and there were large, plastic bags full of dirty clothes, but his body was sleek and shiny from more soap than they see in Ireland in the month of August. But since the water was free in that old apartment, and his Sinatra was pretty good, I never minded.
Torch songs – the affectionate name for the flowery, dream like pop songs from decades ago, are all but lost in the world domination of pop music that has come in the land of MTV, Christina Aguilera, “SexyBack” and freaking Emo, whatever that is. Edith Piaf, Frank Sinatra, and Peggy Lee are no longer names that register excitement anymore. If they click at all, it’s probably titled something along the lines of grandma's music.
Nanci Griffith would like to change all of that, and with her new album, Ruby’s Torch, she is bringing that old style back – with a twist.
It isn’t an album full of song’s long forgotten – growing dust from decades of unuse. No, these songs are still (mostly) new and full of life. She’s playing her own songs, and tunes from such different writers as Jimmy Webb and Tom Waits – yeah, that Tom Waits. Ruby’s Torch takes the new and makes it old again.
It is an interesting, if not wholly successful effort. The songs are beautiful in their essence and the production is sweeping and high class. Arrangements are full of that old style pop sheen. Yet, there is something that doesn’t quite connect about this album. I can’t say exactly what that missing connection is, but it is there just the same.
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1 - Connie Phillips
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2 - Connie Phillips
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