Book review: Kazuo Ishiguro - The Summer we Crossed Europe in the Rain - review updated.

A book of lyrics by Nobel Prize-winning author Kazuo Ishiguro to accompany songs composed by Stacey Kent's husband Jim Tomlinson from a number of Stacey's albums including one, Postcard Lovers, from her latest release Summer me, Winter me which has been released on naïve in association with ECN Music and will be showcased at Ronnie's on May 7 through to May 12.

Ishiguro raises the question as to how effective a lyric is without the music? Without that seductive melody and sympathetic harmony, do the words on their own tell a story?

Sometimes yes, sometimes no. The important thing is, do they tell a story long after the music is forgotten? Are they inseparable? Lester Young said they were, Art Pepper said they weren't. I guess that if you're playing a ballad they are but if you're playing Cherokee at twice the speed of light they aren't.

Ishiguro's words most certainly are important. They have the honesty and the bitter feeling of yearning (but with a sense of hope) that you sometimes get when reading/listening to Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Leonard Cohen and, going back in time, Cole Porter, Larry Hart and W.H. Gilbert.

They're clever but not just for the sake of being clever for clever's sake but because of the picture the words convey.

They're global. Often with hidden meanings. In Casablanca in the Rain, is the narrator really watching the iconic film in a cinema where the roof is leaking or is 'the rain' his/her tears?

To add to the book's appeal, each of the sixteen lyrics is magnificently highlighted by Bianca Bagnarelli illustrations. To complete the deal, the QR code at the back of the book links to songs from various Stacey Kent albums. Lance

• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Faber & Faber; Main edition (7 Mar. 2024)
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 116 pages
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0571378870
• ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0571378876