CHRISTINE TOBIN - A Thousand Kisses Deep
Trail Belle Records TBR03
Christine Tobin (voice); Phil Robson (guitar); Dave Whitford (double bass); Adriani Adewale (percussion); Huw Warren (accordion); Gwilym Simcock (piano on Track 6); Nick Smart (trumpet on Track 11)
Recorded August 6 & September 12, 2013
This latest offering from singer, Christine Tobin is a far cry from her 2012 album, Sailing To Byzantium that put music to the poetry of W.B. Yeats, and finds her working with the words and music of singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. Tobin has made no secret of her admiration for the work of Cohen featuring one of his songs in all her live performances since the mid-nineties, and has recorded two of his compositions on previous albums, with ‘Story of Isaac’ appearing on House of Women in 1998 and ‘Tower of Song’ from You Draw The Line in 2003.
As with anything that that she sings Christine Tobin brings a freshness and originality to her chosen material, with her voice and delivery expressing a wide emotional range that is deeply affecting. Nine of the eleven tracks are superbly and sympathetically arranged by Tobin, and guitarist Phil Robson which bring new life and meaning to the poetry inherent in the lyrics, and also incorporate a wonderful tribute to Miles and Zawinul’s ‘In A Silent Way/It’s About That Time’ to end the aforementioned ‘Tower of Song’.
Indeed, the key to the success of the album rests in the arrangements and instrumentation that give the music a distinctive yet contemporary feel, and with Christine’s approach and reverence to the material she has chosen to work with. Impossible also to find a comparison by which Tobin’s work can be measured, although as fanciful as it may at first appear, she has the same gift in delivering meaning beyond the words as Billie Holiday did, imbuing the most melancholy of line with a hint of optimism and joy.
Repeated listening to this superb recording has had the effect of delaying the writing of this review (“I’ll just listen to it one more time!), whilst making any sort of impartial opinion on favourite tracks an impossibility, as this changes on each hearing. However, as a closing contradiction to the above, the duet pairing Christine with pianist Gwilym Simcock piano on ‘Anthem’ is a truly a thing of beauty.
Reviewed by Nick Lea
Trail Belle Records TBR03
Christine Tobin (voice); Phil Robson (guitar); Dave Whitford (double bass); Adriani Adewale (percussion); Huw Warren (accordion); Gwilym Simcock (piano on Track 6); Nick Smart (trumpet on Track 11)
Recorded August 6 & September 12, 2013
This latest offering from singer, Christine Tobin is a far cry from her 2012 album, Sailing To Byzantium that put music to the poetry of W.B. Yeats, and finds her working with the words and music of singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen. Tobin has made no secret of her admiration for the work of Cohen featuring one of his songs in all her live performances since the mid-nineties, and has recorded two of his compositions on previous albums, with ‘Story of Isaac’ appearing on House of Women in 1998 and ‘Tower of Song’ from You Draw The Line in 2003.
As with anything that that she sings Christine Tobin brings a freshness and originality to her chosen material, with her voice and delivery expressing a wide emotional range that is deeply affecting. Nine of the eleven tracks are superbly and sympathetically arranged by Tobin, and guitarist Phil Robson which bring new life and meaning to the poetry inherent in the lyrics, and also incorporate a wonderful tribute to Miles and Zawinul’s ‘In A Silent Way/It’s About That Time’ to end the aforementioned ‘Tower of Song’.
Indeed, the key to the success of the album rests in the arrangements and instrumentation that give the music a distinctive yet contemporary feel, and with Christine’s approach and reverence to the material she has chosen to work with. Impossible also to find a comparison by which Tobin’s work can be measured, although as fanciful as it may at first appear, she has the same gift in delivering meaning beyond the words as Billie Holiday did, imbuing the most melancholy of line with a hint of optimism and joy.
Repeated listening to this superb recording has had the effect of delaying the writing of this review (“I’ll just listen to it one more time!), whilst making any sort of impartial opinion on favourite tracks an impossibility, as this changes on each hearing. However, as a closing contradiction to the above, the duet pairing Christine with pianist Gwilym Simcock piano on ‘Anthem’ is a truly a thing of beauty.
Reviewed by Nick Lea