chiliqueen's Full Review: My One and Only Thrill * by Melody Gardot
Melody Gardot's soulful, smoky gem Worrisome Heart became my favorite album of 2009...until My One And Only Thrillwas released. I first discovered Melody on NPR, and have since collected her albums and sheet music. With her sultry voice, retro stylings, and tight backing (snare brushes, strings, double bass, piano) sprinkled with unexpected sonic flourishes, Gardot calls to mind Norah Jones's first album Come Away With Me. But there are depths in Melody's music that come from her own difficult experiences recovering from a near-fatal hit-and-run accident when she was 19.
On My One and Only Thrill, Melody again enchants with twelve tracks (there are two versions of If the Stars Were Mine). On the opener Baby, I'm A Fool, this delightfully lilting love song opens with acoustic guitar and a sweep of strings, while several songs feature Brazilian touches (the tropical rhythms of If the Stars Were Mine, Les Etoiles and Melody's enchanting bossa nova cover of Somewhere Over the Rainbow). Who Will Comfort Meis a gospel-tinged powerhouse that called to mind Beth Rowley's fantastic Little Dreamer.
Your Heart Is As Black As The Night is a slinky, sultry ode to Film Noir, from the sweep of snares to the prowling bass, to the Hammond organ and piano. The Rainis hauntingly raw, with only a piano and sax backing Melody's delivery, each word weighted in melancholy. It sounds like she's singing directly to you, sharing a painful secret. Fans of Brudda Iz's timeless cover of Somewhere Over The Rainbow will be pleasantly surprised by the Latin direction that Melody chooses (it's the only non-original tune here).
My One and Only Thrill feels more mature in the lyrics and the delivery. There's a stronger jazz identity present, and the album feels as though it were a long-lost soundtrack to a vintage film (Our Love Is Easy made me think of Dusty Springfield's amazing cover of Michel Legrand's What Are You Doing The Rest Of Your Life, while Les Etoiles reminded me of Astrud Gilberto).
Overall, My One and Only Thrill builds on Melody's debut Worrisome Heart, with haunting lyrics and vintage backing that sound like lost soundtracks from 1960s French films (if you enjoy Meldoy, be sure to check out Coralie Clement's debut Salle Des Pas Perdus). The excellent production puts Melody's voice front and center. She experiments a bit more with scat singing and the delightful French-language track Les Etoiles, and the overall effect is stunning.
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