CD Review - Zara McFarlane: Until Tomorrow

Zara McFarlane (vcl); Peter Edwards (pno); Nick Walsh (bs); Andy Chapman (dms); Binker Goldings, Camilla George, Zern Adu (saxes).

This is an impressive debut album - most singers would choose to go down the Gasbook road to get established but Zara is more than just a mere singer she is a composer and lyricist to boot! And boot it she does too when the number demands it. However, more often than not, it's a soft, fur-lined slipper that she uses to cajole things along. The voice is softly subtle and caressing, entwining the words around you, making you feel that you are part of the song

Behind her the musicians riff with a sort of New Orleans post Katrina intensity - full of soul and, so the blurb tells me, eclectic nu-soul! Well Hallelujah Lord because I haven't got a clue what eclectic nu-soul is all about but if it's what Zara is laying down I'll buy it!

Until Tomorrow by Zara McFarlane is available from Oct 10, 2011, on Gilles Peterson's Brownswood Recordings label. Album launch at MOMO, London on Thursday (Oct. 6) Lance.