Leah Andreone: "Veiled"
RCA, 07863 66897 (46 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 1971
Alanis Morissette must have had a pair of frantically active parents, because these days it seems that every time you open a closet, out falls another soul sister to their daughter, a vengeful woman ready to rip apart the nearest male. Or the world in general. In fact, it's all getting a bit tiresome by now. However, from the scrunched up, angst ridden pose on the cover of this album right through angst ridden tracks like Will You Still Love Me, here, folks is "the next Alanis".
And she ain't shy about stating her agenda, singing in that particular song - the verse, "I got an axe to grind/And a mouth to match/You better hear me out/Don't let me crash". Match that to a brace of electric guitars, power driven drums and the usual mix of percussive instruments and you've got the sound. The single, It's Alright, It's Okay comes from the same stable, in every sense.
More effective are the relatively understated bursts of emotion, such as You Make Me Remember and the positively, well, positive Imagining You. Yes, we all know that many twentysomething women such as San Diego born Leah Andreone are angry and bedevilled by angst; but one note placed too often by any one set of people is one note too much.
Puff Johnson: "Puff Johnson"
Miracle Work Records, WRK 483749 (58 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 2081
Though she is the same age, 23, Puff Johnson is the antithesis of Ms Andreone; partly because of her soul gospel base, which makes Johnson's music at least aspire to be transcendent. More often than not, it reaches that goal. Her press release rather cutely claims she has "a radio genic voice as comfortable as an old friend and as exciting as a new lover".
In fact, her voice is a perfectly focused instrument- the result, no doubt, of her time in a church choir, as a session singer and at LA's prestigious High School for the Arts. She was an A student all the way, and it shows, though "anthemic" cuts such as God Sent You are marginally less magical than the folky True Meaning Of Love and Yearning.
Johnson co-wrote seven of the tracks and coproduced five, which makes this debut even more achievement and more of a warning shot in the direction of synthetic sounding singers such as Mariah Carey. And don't you just love the fact that she kept the name "puff"?
Peggy Lee: "The Man I Love/If You Go"
EMI, 8 55389 (73 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 2191
Julie London: "At Home/Around Midnight"
EMI, 8 54542 (63 mins)
Dial-a-track code: 2301
Before we get accused of sexism, yes, I know that these three albums are part of a nine CD reissue series that also includes classic pop albums by the likes of Nat King Cole, Dean Martin and Matt Monro; but this week's column is a male free zone, okay? Even so, recommended as one of his finest albums is Italian Love Songs/Cha Cha de Amor if only for that first album which is as near to a back to genetic roots album as was ever recorded by Dean Martin. Chillingly beautiful.
The same can be said of Peggy Lee's album The Man I Love, with an orchestra conducted by a certain Frank Sinatra and arranged by Nelson Riddle. This was the original context for her definitive reading of The Folks Who Live On The Hill and all tracks match its magnificence, particularly the title song and, eh, Happiness Is A Thing Called Joe And, yes, Riddle's wee small hours -settings for the orchestra are like a second vocal soaring to similar heights.
Sadly, in this company, Julie London is a non runner, at least vocally. "Sexy" she is, but thin, small and relatively lacklustre when it comes to the kind of interpretative dynamic these pop songs need to lift them from the ordinary into the land of the sublime. All CDs sell for £9.45, which makes them even more appealing. Go buy!
