Listening Party #16 - Ingénue by k.d. lang - start playing at 8pm on 6th July

markv

Track 5: So It Shall Be

We'll have a break after this

markv

The last couple of tracks have been good illustrations of k.d. lang's vocal abilities. She has an incredible amount of control and never sounds like she's really trying, despite moving from full pelt to a whisper in a line. I also love the way she brings in vibrato at the end of a line. Just a great singer.

markv

We'll have a quick break now and reconvene at 8:25

Jonathangus

There's quite an old-school feel to some of these.  Tracks 3 and 4 wouldn't be out of place in a cabaret club.

markv

Back now with track 6: Still Thrives This Love

digitalkettle

Jonathangus said:

There's quite an old-school feel to some of these.  Tracks 3 and 4 wouldn't be out of place in a cabaret club.

I can hear that...although the production is lovely!

markv

Jonathangus said:

There's quite an old-school feel to some of these.  Tracks 3 and 4 wouldn't be out of place in a cabaret club.

Definitely - she described it herself as "post nuclear cabaret" and "nouveau easy listening"

It's a real warm bath of an album. (of course, you might not like warm baths)

markv

Track 7: Season of Hollow Soul

markv

I'm also surprised these tracks haven't been co-opted by soundtracks - unless she's refused permission, of course - as some of them seem very filmic to me.

Jonathangus

Almost ABBA-esque melodies and harmonies.

markv

Jonathangus said:

Almost ABBA-esque melodies and harmonies.

High praise indeed

Actually I hadn't thought about it like that before (despite being a huge ABBA fan) but this track does sound like them in places.

markv

Track 8 is "Outside Myself"

markv

On to the penultimate track, "Tears of Love's Recall"

The instrumentation and arrangement across all tracks is immaculate. I particularly like the accordion peaking through at key moments

markv

Finally we come to "Constant Craving" - the big hit and the song that won her a third Grammy Award, for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in this case. And probably the reason why she was kept on by her record label, who were very against her coming out soon after the album's release, apparently.

markv

So there we have it. Just under 42 minutes of beautifully arranged and incredibly sung music, and one of my favourite albums.

I see our audience has become more selective but I hope you enjoyed it.

digitalkettle

Really good...glad I listened

Jonathangus

Indeed!  Excellent way to spend a Wednesday evening.  Tremendous voice!

markv

I'm so glad you enjoyed it!

Finally, it would be remiss of me to not mention my absolute favourite k.d. lang track: her version of the Cole Porter song "So In Love", from the Red Hot + Blue AIDS benefit album. Her performance on this is extraordinary