Jill Barber - Chances (2008)

The voice, once heard, always recognized. Like Edith Piaf, or Patsy Cline. Not that Jill Barber sounds like them, but she has the kind of voice they had. Unmistakable. Somehow so connected to the heart, that the song comes clear and true to the listener, unaffected, unsullied by fashion, untouched by commercial necessity. It is a voice that stops time. And the songs. Great songs need an underlying truth, even wisdom. Jill's songs don't sound 'written'. They sound like standards, like they were always there, waiting for her voice to take full flight. Here is a rare talent, a fully realized artist. Her work is sultry, heartfelt, humane and beautiful. I hear her, I think 'classic'. Here is a bouquet of love songs, wrapped in ravishing arrangements, and sung with tenderness and grace. Taken with two fingers of strong spirits, they will soothe the tangled madness of the day, fill the heart, ease the mind, and remind us that life can be very beautiful. - Tom Gallant, 2008