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| Linda Thompson Returns With 'Versatile Heart' On August 14, Rounder Records will release 'Versatile Heart' by folk-rock legend, Linda Thompson. "[With] one of the loveliest, most dramatic voices in the English language" (No Depression), Thompson is basking in a sustained creative resurgence with an album to rival her best work from the 70s. Recorded in New York City and Scotland over a three-year period with producer Ed Haber, the album features seven Thompson originals, four of which she co-wrote with son Teddy Thompson. Of the other six tracks, one highlight is "Beauty", a duet with acclaimed vocalist Antony written for Linda by Rufus Wainwright. 'Versatile Heart' is deeply rooted in haunting arrangements and timeless balladry, displaying eclecticism beyond any of her previous recordings. The rockabilly of "Do Your Best for Rock and Roll", the standout title-track and "The Way I Love You" (featuring Martha Wainwright) are a sample of the songs Linda co-wrote with Teddy. Kamila Thompson contributes one of the most sparse, experimental songs on the album, entitled "Nice Cars." Thompson also covers Tom Waits' and Kathleen Brennan's "Day After Tomorrow", a plea from a soldier against the war. Linda's facility with traditional folk song is well represented: most notably with a wonderful adaptation of "Katy Cruel" as well as her own song "Whisky, Bob Copper and Me." Linda Thompson first came to prominence in the 1970's with a string of albums with her then-husband Richard that remain undisputed classics of the singer-songwriter genre. After 1985 she retired from recording due to the rare vocal disorder spasmodic dysphonia, until her triumphant return with 2002's 'Fashionably Late' (Rounder). One of the best reviewed albums of the year, the New Yorker called it "a marvel of modern folk" and The Wall Street Journal hailed it as "a bona fide comeback." In 2005 Linda produced a highly regarded all-star tribute to the English Music Hall era at London's Lyric Hammersmith Theatre, as well as participating in Hal Willner's traveling Leonard Cohen tribute shows in New York, England and Australia. write your comments about the article :: © 2007 Jazz News :: home page |