Details: Diana Krall (b. 1964), Wallflower (deluxe edition). Verve, 2015. Total time: 59:18.
This'll be the first of quite a few Diana Krall album blogs over the next year, but this one is rather unusual. Normally Krall records albums of jazz, standards, bossa nova, and the like. Then again, torch singer Julie London -- to whom Diana Krall has sometimes been compared vocally -- was known for cranking out albums every year in the 1960s containing remakes of contemporary pop songs, so this isn't without precedent. Plus, established as a jazz superstar since the mid-1990s, Krall can pretty much do whatever she wants now and people will buy her albums.
On this new album just out this year, she offers 12 remakes of mostly 1970s mellow ballads, produced by David Foster. Clearly the 1970s were an influential decade in Krall's youth and her interpretations here are not run-of-the-mill but in several instances quite thoughtful and fresh-sounding. Her rendition of California Dreamin' kicks things off and she does a great job with the song, slowing it down and putting some real aching in the vocals.
The second track, I think, is the standout on the entire album. Her version of Desperado is brilliant -- she does an excellent job with a kind of old worn-out (in my opinion) song and brings a new, fresh perspective to it for the listener. I was really surprised by this one.
Another song she does a nice job with is I'm Not in Love, the song that made 10cc famous. In particular on the outro she does some interesting stuff with the piano (and the producer with other instruments) in place of the original 10cc outro. The rest of the album is mostly 1970s stuff with the exception of Don't Dream It's Over by Crowded House from 1986. There are a couple duets including one with Michael Buble' and another with Bryan Adams.
While I think her wheelhouse is jazz standards, her walk down Mellow Memory Lane in this new album is good stuff with several really outstanding moments. The deluxe version of this album features a few bonus songs including a heartbreaking version of Elton John's Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word.
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