Customer Reviews
Bland, Empty, Forgettable. - By: Les Brock, 11 Oct 2008 
What an extremely disappointing album. I loved here previous albums. Her beautiful voice & her take on some wonderful standards. This albums is full of what I call single notes songs. They are tuneless & without melody. Stacey's voice & the excellent musicianship of her backing group lift it just a little but are wasted on these bland & empty songs. None of them are memorable & even the well known "Hard Hearted Hanna" & "What A Wonderful World" do little to turn this into a CD worth playing again. Please, please Stacey, come back to songs with soul, melody & a tune.
A beguiling and different album from Stacey Kent - By: Mr G, 06 Jul 2008 
Stacey Kent's highly polished albums of standards are extremely listenable if at times over-glossed tributes to the genius of the Great American Songbook. I have always had a few reservations about this particular musician, but on this new album I have to say I am completely won over. The unique feature of this project is, of course, the addition of four very evocative & melodic original songs by saxophonist/hubby Jim Tomlinson & lyrics by Kazuo Ishiguro. These songs are quite literally tailor-made for Kent's brand of reticent romanticism, & her singing on these numbers has a special personal quality. Sometimes her albums of standards have the feeling of a production line (though, admittedly, a very expert production line); these new songs prompt her to express something fresh. I particularly enjoyed "I Wish I Could Go Travelling Again".
The other cuts on the album are equally pleasurable, & again it's nice to see her tackling something a little off the beaten track: the delightful samba from "A Man & a Woman" is a real highpoint, & I am always pleased to hear a lovely reading of the beautiful Bergman/Mendes "So Many Stars". Stevie Nick's "Landslide" also makes a strong impression, for all it seems to venture into Norah Jones territory.
Overall, this CD is a treat from start to finish, a highly musical & intelligent collection of excellent songs. At Amazon's price of under a fiver, you can't really say no.
If you like Francoise Hardy... - By: Jacques Dutronc, 01 Apr 2008 
you'll be pleased to find Ces petits riens on this CD. I know, that's obsessive.
Wonderful Voice - By: Manchester majority, 13 Nov 2007 My first Stacey Kent album, having heard her recently on Radio 3's 'In Tune'. Most of this album is excellent, though I found the title track, after a couple of hearings, to be a bit silly. The hook is her voice, of course, which is so fresh & clear. I looked on here to see what else she has done & was disappointed to see that most of it is from the 'American songbook'. I'd like to hear more original stuff - listening to the standards is tainted by other voices.
Uninspired Selection - By: doggebreth, 30 Oct 2007 
Diana Krall recorded tuneless & joyless songsin her 'Girlin the Other Room' but has since returned to form.
Hopefully Stacey Kent willin similar fashion now have excised those demons that drive successful artists to substitute 'originality' for musicality. I expect her next recordings to revert to the kind of material that she performs with such skill & perceptivenessin all her previous work.
