SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MELODY GARDOT – SUNSET IN THE BLUE

Melody Gardot
Sunset In The Blue
Verve Records

Some music reviewers try to be critical and stay polite at the same time. One of the ways to do so is to lump together into a subgenre a few artists they think are similar but not up to their taste, and that they also don’t seem to like. In most cases, it doesn’t work.

One such category is so-called ‘sophisticated pop.’ Some of the artists that are categorized there are Sade, Norah Jones, Michael Franks, and Melody Gardot. It seems that sophisticated is to signify that the quality of music is very good, but, hey, it is only pop. One big problem. If it is good it is good, pop or not. If you don’t like anything that has to do with pop, too bad for you.

As far as Melody Gardot is concerned, labeling her as pop is a moot point. She has always been her own artist, switching from style to style (check her The Absence album), but always sticking to her own guns, including her strong jazz leanings, and she is quite successful as far as the charts and fans are concerned.

Sunset in the Blue, her latest album, is no exception in the above respects. Her quite specific vocals and songwriting (“Ninguem, Ninguem”) are immaculate, and so is her choice of the covers she takes on (“Love Song,” “Moon River”). The ante is upped by the fact that stylistically it is quite a uniform affair, with yet another label that comes in very handy here – very, very late night. You can’t miss with this one, particularly if you like that sophisticated part of the subgenre.

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