How intoxicating is a singer who, from the moment she opens her mouth, can soothe rattled nerves with just the smooth, sweet and self-assured tone of her voice? Voices like that are a rare breed – Norah Jones has one, as do Kelli Dayton, Shara Nelson and Joss Stone, and Fiona Apple has been known to produce something comparable on occasion) – but it's clear that it's the only tone that Elizabeth Shepherd is able to make in Heavy Falls The Night. From the opening uptown jazz vibes rolled out by “What Else,” Shepherd holds listeners delicately in the palm of her hand as they hang on her every word and sigh.
That, in a word, is a potent effect.
Listeners will continue to hang on the singer's every word as the deep and heavy bass buoys the singer along through the title track and headlong into “Numbers” where the singer gets up and struts lackadaisical all the way through “Seven Bucks” and “One More Day.” In each case, the singer's own voice is most definitely her secret weapon and what gets these songs to stick in every ear they touch; while the bass and drum performances in songs like “What Else,” “A Song For Dinah Washington,” “On The Insufficiency Of Words” and the title track are sensual, beautiful things to behold, they'd be nothing without the singer's pristine voice – which is smooth as velvet and flows as easily as the finest cognac. It's as intoxicating and comforting as those things too.
As that incredibly deep and percussive standup bass joins with a hollowbody electric guitar to methodically massage the love and care that Shepherd puts into her re-imagining of Kenny Loggins' “Danny's Song” to close out the album, everyone has been well and truly sold; Elizabeth Shepherd has relaxed them into submission and they'll follow her anywhere. That's a fantastic position for any singer to be in, but it's made all the better by the fact that Heavy Falls The Night is obviously the work of a lifer; she won't be quitting soon. She has the sort of voice and presence that is unforgettable and, when she follows this album up, she's guaranteed to have some receptive, thirsty ears waiting for it.
Artist:
www.elizabethshepherd.com/
www.myspace.com/elizabethshepherd
Download:
Elizabeth Shepherd – “Numbers” – Heavy Falls The Night
Album:
Heavy Falls The Night is out now. Buy it here on Amazon .
