Despite her background with the legendary Blue Note label (who released her 2009 album, Spilt Milk), Kristina Train's sophomore collection at first feels closer to the retro bankability of Rumer and Ren Harvieu than the jazz divas of old – although the shadow of Blue Note stalwart Norah Jones is never far away.
The production style knowlingly harks back to the past, just as Rumer's Seasons Of My Soul and Duffy's Rockferry tried to replicate an easy listening mood done much more effectively first time round by The Carpenters and Dusty Springfield. Echoes of Bach's Air on a G String can be heard in the title track's pizzicato riff, but it's the lush arrangements and languid time signatures of the late 1960s and early 1970s that drench Dark Black's studio-crafted sound.
Ultimately, however, "vintage" is a fairer term than "retro" for this journey through bruised hearts and broken relationships. The songs are melodic and strong, but they're nothing without the singer, and it's Savannah-raised Train's gloriously soulful voice that lifts the album above fashions and fads, as she moves from aching whisper to rousing defiance.
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