Latest releases reviewed

PINK MARTINI
Hey Eugene
Wrasse
****

"Pink Martini are musical ambassadors who strive to create a world of goodness, beauty and romance, a cross between a 1940s Hollywood musical and the United Nations as it was initially conceived." So goes the press release accompanying the third album by this deliciously oddball outfit from Portland, Oregon, and it's as good a description as any. They clearly have polyglot tendencies because there are no language barriers - Japanese pop nestles happily against Egyptian covers, classic Hollywood romance, Spanish love songs and even the occasional English-speaking tune. Legendary jazz singer Jimmy Scott turns in a gorgeous duet with lead singer China Forbes on the unlikely Tea for Two, and the title track is classic New York cool. It's lounge, it's roots, it's world, but most of all it's a sunshine pleasure. www.pinkmartini.com

Download tracks: Cante e Dance, Taya Tan, Everywhere

ELEANOR SHANLEY WITH FRANKIE LANE AND PAUL KELLY
A Place of My Own
Own Place Records
***

There are some very serious Irish talents in action on this enjoyable if a tad overly wide-ranging collection. Shanley is a highly rated singer who has proved her versatility in the past, while Lane and Kelly are both masters of a number of different styles and instruments, Lane's cowboy album being an outstanding example of how to lovingly bring a forgotten genre back to life. This album has no such clear agenda. It wanders all over the place, from Keshcarrigan to Appalachia, with many pleasurable stops along the way, but it has the loose feel of being a collection of disparate songs rather than a cohesive album. That said, the playing and the singing are top notch, and there are some very fine performances, not least on a version of the traditional The Blackest Crow.

Download tracks: A Slow Healing Heart, Matt Hyland