Annie Lennox just released her new covers album of old jazz and blues songs called Nostalgia. I’m not a huge fan of jazz or blues but I am a huge Annie Lennox fan so I was excited to get a new album, whatever type of music it might be. I didn’t have high expectations but I hoped that she would sing songs that were interesting and appealing to me. Unfortunately, this is the first time that an album has fallen short of even my lowest expectations. My gay opinion is that I wish Annie had stuck with what she knows and does best, pop songs with haunting melodies.
Four years ago Cyndi Lauper also released a blues cover album called Memphis Blues and I bought it with the same expectations. However, Cyndi was able to modernize the songs and make the music her own. She chose songs that were a mix of slow and upbeat…well as upbeat as the blues can get. Although it’s not my favorite album of Cyndi’s, I didn’t feel as let down as I do now.
All the songs on Nostalgia are slow and seem to blend into one another. None of the songs make me want to move, unless I want to get down with a fierce waltz. If I have a night of insomnia, I might throw this album on since it’s like a lullaby album for adults. I’ve never heard any of the original versions of these songs but nothing about this album even has a whisper of modern or current. It sound more like an album of re-masters instead of originals. I don’t feel like Annie has put her own spin on these old classics like she did on her 1995 cover album Medusa.
This album isn’t my thing and I probably won’t listen to it in it’s entirety again but it is nice to know that Annie still sounds great. And although I wouldn’t recommend this album unless you’re a huge fan of both Annie Lennox and jazzy blues, I do have to give her props for trying something new. But next time she wants to revive a musical genre, how about Annie Does Disco?
