This is Natalia M. King’s second album, and since she was born in 1969, you may want to ask yourself after taking in these intriguing sounds, “where has she been hiding?” and “what took her so long?”
Neither of those questions are answered here, but the indigo’d vocalist will make you search the internet for a local appearance.
Besides singing, she plays electric and acoustic guitar, while the team of Anders Ulrich/b, Anthony Honnet/p, Davy Honnett/dr, Ronald Baker/tp and Xavier Sibre/ts-cl-fl provide late night atmospheres. She sounds fl uid and slurry with a lazy and laconic clarinet on the cabaret “Traces In the Sand” and the muted trumpet on “Little Bit of Rain.” Sibre’s tenor is harrowing and King creates moody shadows on guitar while Honnet’s brushes create shifting sands on the noirish read of “Don’t Explain.” She is also able to create an old world of R&B, as her voice hovers like a misty cloud on the thoughtful “Insatiable” while dashes of early Tom Waits sift into pieces like the muted “This Time Around” and Ellington’s “Love You Madly.” Her lilt has a natural bluesy tone, as she gets juke jointy on “Paint It Black & Blue” and the team gets a bit free spirited as the rhythm gallops along with Sibre’s flute of fancy on “You Came & Go.”
Every song seems to have a lot so say, and King says it all very well. Check out this refreshing and yet timeless voice.