Sandy Denny: Listen Listen (Island)
Subtitled "An introduction to", this budget-priced selection of 17 songs from the four solo albums of this remarkable British singer/songwriter is either an attempt to spread the word to a new generation of discerning listeners or to rekindle old memories, or both. What is not in doubt is the continuing ability of Denny's voice to send shivers down the spine. Her distinctive, husky-tinged emotionally-charged voice was a perfect vehicle for both her intense songs and her evocative readings of traditional material. All these tracks were recorded during the 1970s before her death at 31, from a brain haemorrhage, in 1978. They do not include any of her work with Fotheringay or Fairport Convention, but there is a purity and elegance in her singing and her songs which set her apart, even 25 years on.
Joe Breen
Chely Wright: Single White Female (MCA)
I've little time for country-pop crossover, though the energetic humour of acts like Shania Twain make it occasionally bearable. On the face of it, newcomer Chely Wright would seem to have all the right ingredients for a crossover star: good looks, strong voice, good production, vacuous third-party material. But on closer hearing she also has something a little more distinctive. Her sole solo songwriting contribution, Picket Fences, features a genuinely affecting duet with Alison Krauss, and there are any number of neat instrumental touches elsewhere. Although the material generally veers to the middle of the road, Wright's voice packs plenty of punch, as on Some Kind of Somethin'. Certainly, she is a contender, and it will be interesting to see where she goes from this promising debut.
Joe Breen