It’s always seemed ironic to me that people have associated Madeleine Peyroux’s voice and style with Billie Holiday. As this album points out, while she may have some of Lady Day’s timing, her sound and nuance points more to another soul, that of Patsy Cline. Here, in the context of “Secular Hymns”, meaning folk tunes, and gospel songs that have hit the mainstream, Peyroux takes you down not to 52nd Street or the Left Bank, but to the local VFW with her Spartan and intimate team of Jon Herington/g and Barak Mori/b.
The recording setting was in a small church in the English countryside, so there is a relaxed casualness about the entire mood. As she shows throughout the album, there is no such thing as “non religious” music; every song reflects some kind of a world view, be it in the party mood of “Everything I Do Gonh Be Funky” or the gospel revival of “Shout, Sister Shout!”. In between you get street corner messages such as “Hard Times Come Again No More” or desultory pleas during “If The Sea Was Whiskey.” She sings along with the band most of the time, and a couple of tunes have her as stark and lonely as a late night candle. Her use of inflection, space and subtle dynamics is impeccable, even delivering a little homesy twang here and there. Sit right down and have a listen, ‘chere.
Impulse! Records