Henry SmithThis ‘Melody Gardot’ review was written by Henry Smith, a GIGsoup contributor.
‘Melody Gardot’ continues her exploration into the complicated and often emotional world of life-and-love with her third studio album, ‘Currency of Man’.
The pervading emotion throughout this album is one of heartache. People often deal with heartbreak in one of two ways – either jumping from conquest to conquest in order to plug the hole in their psyche, or they implode, withdrawing themselves from society in an attempt to look inside themselves to see what is lost. What is apparent throughout this album is that ‘Melody Gardot’ comes from the latter school of thought, and the resulting songs are a window into that heartbreak. Songs like ‘She Don’t Know’ and ‘Preacherman’ as well as the album title-track tell stories of betrayal, and the vocals are more withdrawn and soulful to reflect that existential pain.
Miss Gardot takes a step back and allows the instrumentals to lead, giving us a more restrained performance filled with the kind of emotion that can only be portrayed by those who have truly felt pain. She wonderfully channels frustration and pain giving us an intimate tour of the inner adversity that helped her to become the artist she is today.
‘Currency of Man’ is an excellent collection of smooth jazz, but with an earthy, melancholic twist. LP highlights include ‘Morning Sun’, which is suitably more optimistic than anything else on the album – without being outright happy, and ‘It Gonna Come’, which leans slightly into a more mainstream tone while still staying true to Melody’s signature style.
‘No Man’s Prize’, ‘Preacherman’ and ‘If I Ever Recall Your Face’ also impress and offer the LP a darker, almost bluesy tone.
It’s an impressive release from the Philadelphia singer-songwriter and one that will sit nicely with lovers of clever, well written music.
‘Currency of Man’ is out now on Decca
You can see Melody Gardot at one of the following venues…
13th June 2015 – Centre International, Deauville TICKETS
14th June 2015 – Salle Moliere, Le Touquet TICKETS
17th June 2015 – Sausheim, Espace Dollfus & Noack TICKETS
18th June 2015 – Théâtre Ledoux, BesanÇon, France TICKETS
19th June 2015 – Centre Evenementiel , Courbevoie, France TICKETS
21st June 2015 – PALAIS DE LA MUSIQUE ET DES CONGRES, Strasbourg, France TICKETS
22nd June 2015 – Koninklijk Circus, Brussels, Belgium TICKETS
23rd June 2015 – Le Colisée, Roubaix, France TICKETS
24th June 2015 – CHAPITEAU, Blainville Crevon, France TICKETS
26th June 2015 – L’Olympia, Paris, France TICKETS
27th June 2015 – L’Olympia, Paris, France TICKETS
28th June 2015 – L’Olympia, Paris, France TICKETS
30th June 2015 – Festival Jardins Palau Reial Pedralbes, Barcelona, Spain TICKETS
2nd July 2015 – Théâtre Antique, Vienne, France TICKETS
4th July 2015 – Opera House, Vienne, France TICKETS
6th July 2015 – Sepetciler Kasri, Istanbul, Turkey TICKETS
8th July 2015 – Theatre De Verdure, Erbalunga, France TICKETS
11th July 2015 – Zitadelle, Mainz, Germany TICKETS
12th July 2015 – The Ahoy, Rotterdam, Netherlands TICKETS
13th July 2015 – ZMF, Freiburg, Germany TICKETS
15th July 2015 – Théâtre de la Mer Jean-Vilar, Sète, France TICKETS
16th July 2015 – Stravinsky Hall, Veytaux Chillon, Switzerland TICKETS
17th July 2015 – La Pinede Gould, Juan Les Pins, France TICKETS
18th July 2015 – KKL Luzern, St. Niklausen, Switzerland TICKETS
21st July 2015 – Les Jardins du Palais Longchamp, Marseille, France TICKETS
24th July 2015 – Auditorio Parque Torres, Cartagena, Spain TICKETS
26th July 2015 – Kursaal, San Sebastián, Spain TICKETS
28th July 2015 – Auditorio De Vigo , Vigo, Spain TICKETS
29th July 2015 – Cool Jazz Festival, Lisbon, Portugal TICKETS
31st July 2015 – Le Chapiteau, Marciac, France TICKETS
The full track-listing for ‘Currency of Man’ is as follows…
‘It Gonna Come’
‘Preacherman’
‘Morning Sun’
‘Same to You’
‘Don’t Misunderstand’
‘Don’t Talk’
‘If Ever I Recall Your Face’
‘Bad News’
‘She Don’t Know’
‘Once I Was Loved’
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