Don't Stop Singing

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合計収録時間 : 00:36:58
Widely regarded as one of the most important folk-rock singers of her generation, former Fairport Convention vocalist Sandy Denny's solo back catalog appeared destined to consist of just four studio albums following her untimely death from a brain hemorrhage at the age of 31. However, due to the discovery of 20 sets of unrecorded lyrics by writer/artist Phil Smee (who was granted access to a treasure trove of manuscripts and notebooks for a BBC box set), her small but influential canon of work has now been unexpectedly added to 33 years on. Issued with the responsibility of setting her highly personal words to music is British singer/songwriter Thea Gilmore, a longtime admirer who has often been compared to the late troubled star, and as evident on 2004 covers album Loft Music and her recent track-by-track interpretation of Bob Dylan's John Wesley Harding, has plenty of experience performing other artists' work. It's an inspired matchup. Assisted by regular producer Nigel Stonier, Gilmore avoids the temptation to plant the poetic lyrics into a contemporary setting and instead serves up ten timeless folk-rock arrangements that could well have been composed by Denny herself. The heartbreaking balladry of "Song No. 4" ("I'm in such a terrible state/And my country's just like me") and the eerie chamber folk of "Pain in My Heart" superbly reflect Denny's apparent demon-battling frame of mind; "Georgia" is a beautifully poignant lullaby to the daughter she would tragically never get to know; while the lushly orchestrated opener "Glistening Bay," the rousing country swing of the title track, and the upbeat Celtic-tinged ode to homesickness, "London," would all have comfortably fit onto her 1977 swan song, Rendezvous. Far from tainting Denny's legacy, Don't Stop Singing is a unique and affectionate eulogy that helps to build upon it even further. ~ Jon O'Brien