Gretchen Lieberum - Siren Songs

Despite electronic flourishes, Gretchen Lieberum is essentially a jazz vocalist. As light and languid as early summer on Avila, she brings a 60s pop sensibility to Beauty of Mine and delicious abandon to closer Grace. Her choice of cover versions is less successful: Massive Attack's Teardrop lacks the original's glacial majesty and the Flaming Lips' Do You Realise is exposed as a limp half-idea. Her own songs, sketched out over bass and piano, are more affecting and insightful: You Closer sways and seduces, while Can You Hear Me rumbles with restrained sensuality. Siren Songs works best when it plays up its light jazz roots - the forays into chill-out club music sound pedestrian and dated. Keep on Walking has a superb, soulful introduction that sadly slips into mid-paced sludge; like the album itself, the strengths are sacrificed in an attempt to cover too many genres, leaving behind merely pleasant background music. [Gareth K Vile]