Little Blue

I admit it. I've become a huge fan of Carmen Gomes Inc. Their albums contain just an excellent selection of songs, with excellent instrumental performances, and the ever wonderful voice of Carmen Gomes.

Carmen and her partners consistently deliver a delightful blending of blues, rock and song. In Little Blue, Carmen collects a broad range of songs which she says are "songs of my youth that made a lingering impression and original compositions, some written a long time ago; some only recently. They all deal with topics of everyday life that keep my mind occupied: the choices we make, how we define ourselves and how we deal with life in general."

As with all of her albums, Carmen takes songs down to their basic elements and then rebuilds and restructures to suit her style. Her songs don't sound like covers. They sound original and authentic - a new take on something familiar that gives a new listening experience. Each sounds like a valid new interpretation.

With a bluesy, intimate style, and a sultry sweet voice, Carmen strikes brilliantly at the heart of the song; she conveys pure emotion to the listener. Add to this an ensemble that is so tight they could collectively be a single person, and you have performances that consistently hit their mark.

Recorded at M.C.O, Studio 2, Hilversum, The Netherlands, on August 17 & 18, 2014 and April 12, 2015, this is a fine example of Frans de Rond's excellent engineering that captures the performers as if we are in the room with them. Just brilliantly recorded.

Carmen Gomes will have been on stage for 25 years next season. The singer celebrates this with a new concert program 'Carte Blanche', an overview of the Dutch oeuvre in which her latest album 'Little Blue' will undoubtedly conquer a place.

Gomes was influenced by musicians who radiated a certain depth, arising from an indefinable desolation, such as Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and Neil Young. A feeling that Gomes identified with in her youth and laid the foundation for her voice.

Warm, jazzy, covered with a soulful glow in which the blues find refuge in lesser times. These are the grateful ingredients for 'Little Blue' that, in addition to own compositions, contains powerful and often melancholy standards from Gomes' youth. Such as the beautifully delayed 'Holding Back The Years' by Simply Red (mother abandons child), 'Needle And The Damage Done' by Neil Young, 'Little Girl Blue' which has been performed by many including Janis Joplin and Nina Simone, and 'Brass In Pocket' by The Pretenders.

Just like her own works, Gomes delivers the pieces convincingly and with a lived voice leading, as if she carries the pain and loneliness from the texts like a burden on her shoulders. A melancholy feeling arises, which is given all the space to develop visually through the open, meandering sound of the band. The accompaniment, with sensitive accents and riffs by guitarist Folker Tettero is unapproachably characteristic of the sad blues sound that runs through the pieces like a red thread.

You don't get happy with 'Little Blue'. But Gomes's solidarity, bundled in an expressive, smoothly phrasing voice and catchy lyrics, are a feast for the ears and offer security in gloomy times.