Alison Moyet
(Decca)
Singer Alison Moyet was doing the harsh rush of blushing R&B, sassy jazz and coy belted blues long before Amy and Duffy were teasing and dying their hair - with Yaz, on her own. And while nothing on The Turn is as swishily marvelous as "Whispering Your Name" (little is) , Moyet does manage to let down her gruff-hewn voice on some neatly loving pop tunes ("A Guy like You") and a few mucho-emotive ballads ( ("One More Time").
Moyet's voice is rounder and more swinging thing than it used to be. Not too sweet, not too stilted. After a few solid listens, the nuanced mannerism of Moyet's vocal best start to pop through in the oddest spots - the irksomely up and angular "It's Not The Thing, Henry," a grumbling atmospheric "The Man in the Wings" which sounds like something Angelo and David would cook up for a Twin Peaks reunion show, and the gorgeous show-tuney "Smaller." Keep listening to this record and you'll probably unearth a new find at every earful.
Standout Tracks: "It's Not the Thing, Henry," "The Man in the Wings" A.D. AMOROSI
