Claudine Longet's third album continues the middle-of-the-road tendencies of her first two, leading off with an oddly jaunty reinterpretation of "Falling in Love Again,"
Marlene Dietrich's theme song, whose jaded world-weariness
Longet replaces with her own pleasantly insubstantial persona. With its cinematic background noise staging and odd ragtime piano accents, it recalls
Harpers Bizarre's playful deconstruction of pre-rock standards. More successful are the straightforward bilingual version of the title track, one of the evergreen tunes of '60s easy listening; the oft-recorded
Alan Gordon and
Gary Bonner sunshine pop tune "Small Talk"; and a mournful, skeletal version of
Randy Newman's little-known early tune "Snow" that's among
Longet's finest interpretations of her career. Even better is
Longet's take on the
Bee Gees standard "Holiday";
Longet's endearingly pitch-poor, lispy vocals are tailor-made for this spooky, unconventional song, which arranger
Nick DeCaro gives a suitably off-kilter arrangement featuring a chorus of wordless
Longets between the strings and the increasingly florid piano accompaniment.
Longet's next album, the masterful
Colours, would benefit from even more of this gently psychedelic experimentation. ~ Stewart Mason