From Frozen princess to Disco Queen: ADRIAN THRILLS delights in Idina Menzel’s vocal tour de force in her new album Drama Queen
Idina Menzel: Drama Queen (BMG)
Verdict: Vocal tour de force
Rating:
Jon Batiste: World Music Radio (Verve)
Verdict: Don’t touch that dial
Rating:
Mention the name Idina Menzel and two things might spring to mind.
The first would be the Oscarwinning song Let It Go, a children’s favourite that has been driving parents to distraction since it featured in the first of Disney’s Frozen films in 2013. Menzel, for good measure, also belted out the showstopping Into The Unknown in the movie’s 2019 sequel.
The second is an infamous incident at the 2014 Oscars, when presenter John Travolta mangled the pronunciation of her first and last names. Menzel was about to sing Let It Go when the actor introduced her as ‘Adele Dazeem’, leading to a barrage of internet memes – and a sincere apology from Travolta.
Mention the name Idina Menzel and two things might spring to mind. The first would be the Oscarwinning song Let It Go, a children’s favourite that has been driving parents to distraction since it featured in the first of Disney’s Frozen films in 2013
Idina Menzel performs during Outloud at WeHo Pride 2023 at West Hollywood Park on June 02, 2023 in West Hollywood, California
Menzel laughed off the gaffe and even exacted an Oscars revenge the following year when she introduced Travolta as ‘Glom Gazingo’.
She could afford to be charitable: she was already making her mark as a Tony-winning Broadway star and she insists the Oscars blooper actually raised her profile.
With today’s release of a new solo album, Drama Queen, the 52-yearold New Yorker adds yet another string to her bow: disco diva.
Menzel made the record with A-list collaborators, including Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers and Jake Shears of the Scissor Sisters, and she pulls off the unexpected change of direction with confidence and class. She has the range and depth to outshine most of her peers.
We’re in the midst of a disco revival, with an array of female singers putting their own spin on the genre. For Sophie Ellis-Bextor, the onus is on kitsch frivolity Jessie Ware’s That! Feels Good!, was powered by retro-funk and Latin grooves.
Menzel has her own take, delivering a combination of addictive beats and Broadway razzle-dazzle.
Track of the week
Goodbye Never Felt So Bad by James Bay
The man in the felt fedora returns with heartland-rock guitars and a bustling chorus on a crowd favourite that offers an early taste of the BRIT-winning singer’s fourth album.
There are nods to Donna Summer and The Weather Girls, while the nine original songs here address timeless disco themes of self-empowerment and battling your way through heartbreak.
The two tracks co-written with Shears are typical of the ‘sad bangers’ approach. ‘You don’t see me bleeding, but only the best of me remains,’ sings Menzel on Dramatic, while Funny Kind Of Lonely sees her trying to reconcile conflicting emotions that she likens to ‘broken glass and wine’. It also sees her hold a Let It Gostyle high note without disrupting the song’s rhythmic flow.
She can dial down the power too. Paradise, featuring Rodgers, is breezy and understated, while Madison Hotel sees her move assuredly through the gears. The latter, which details an illicit late-night rendezvous at the NoMad Hotel on Broadway, opens as a slow, jazzy piece before gathering pace in the style of Donna Summer’s version of MacArthur Park.
Singer and composer Jon Batiste has dreamed up a pop radio show in which no genre is off-limits
The New Orleans musician says he wanted to challenge the phrase ‘world music’, a marketing expression used in Britain and the U.S. to sell records by African, Asian and Latin American artists
Some might sneer at the Broadway trimmings. Others will simply enjoy the party… regardless of how they say her name.
Singer and composer Jon Batiste has dreamed up a pop radio show in which no genre is off-limits. ‘The music we have planned for tonight comes from all around the world,’ he tells us at the start of World Music Radio, and he’s true to his word on an album that features Lana Del Rey, rapper Lil Wayne, jazz saxophonist Kenny G and Little Mix’s Leigh-Anne Pinnock.
The New Orleans musician says he wanted to challenge the phrase ‘world music’, a marketing expression used in Britain and the U.S. to sell records by African, Asian and Latin American artists. To Batiste – or rather his alter-ego Billy Bob Bo Bob – all music is world music, rendering the term meaningless.
Stretched over 65 minutes and with a running commentary by our host Billy Bob, World Music Radio is one of 2023’s most ambitious releases. Commercial in places and moodily atmospheric in others, it’s too sprawling to be the pop classic Batiste intends.
But for listeners willing to trim its 21 tracks into a more digestible playlist, it’s hugely entertaining.
Variety is the spice of Batiste’s life. The catchy Be Who You Are, with lyrics in English, Spanish and Korean, recalls 1980s pop-reggae band Musical Youth. Latin ballad My Heart features Catalan singer and trombonist Rita Payes. Kenny G is the soloist on Clair De Lune, built around a French folk song. Master Power nods to the bluesy roots-rock of Dire Straits.
We shouldn’t be surprised at such versatility. Having grown up playing gigs in his home city’s French Quarter, Batiste once made an album on the New York subway.
Variety is the spice of Batiste’s life. The catchy Be Who You Are, with lyrics in English, Spanish and Korean, recalls 1980s pop-reggae band Musical Youth. Latin ballad My Heart features Catalan singer and trombonist Rita Payes
Jasmine Van Den Bogaerde — aka Birdy — moves away from melancholy indie-pop to something more energetic on her fifth album, Portraits
He’s been the bandleader on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert and won an Oscar for co-writing the score to the Disney/Pixar film Soul. His previous LP, We Are, picked up four Grammys.
World Music Radio closes with gospel-soul number Life Lesson, a duet with Del Rey. The hushed piano ballad, previously unreleased, is from the sessions for Lana’s recent ninth album, which featured Batiste.
Rumour has it the pair worked on other material, too. The prospect of them releasing more music is a mouthwatering one.
BIRDY: Portraits (Warner)
Verdict: Brushes up her act
Rating:
Jasmine Van Den Bogaerde – aka Birdy – moves away from melancholy indie-pop to something more energetic on her fifth album, Portraits. The Hampshire singer and pianist, great-niece of the actor Dirk Bogarde, started her career singing Fleet Foxes and Bon Iver covers. She’s now joining 2023’s stampede towards electronic pop and dance… with a few wistful twists.
Paradise Calling is the kind of song you might expect to hear in a 1980s coming-of-age film starring Molly Ringwald. Raincatchers hints at the orchestral sweep Kate Bush perfected on 1985’s Hounds Of Love. Traces of Birdy’s past remain, though, with I Wish I Was A Shooting Star rekindling the drama of 2016’s Beautiful Lies. It’s a balancing act, but one that she pulls off – just.
Source: Read Full Article
