Thea Gilmore's second album of 2011 is, like the first, a covers collection. Unlike the first, which was a straightforward reading of Dylan's John Wesley Harding, Don't Stop Singing is based on a sheaf of Sandy Denny lyrics that had never before been put to music. If any British singer was the woman for the job, it was Gilmore, whose tender style is profoundly reminiscent of Denny's; the scores for these 10 songs are what Denny herself might have composed. There's no discernible disparity between, say, her wonder-struck portrait of nature and Gilmore's elegiac, string-based melody on Glistening Bay, while Denny's homesickness on tour is given a walloping, accordion-led kick that makes it painfully real on London. The shimmering high point, Pain in My Heart, is as beautiful a thing as Gilmore has ever sung. More than just a quirky stopgap, Don't Stop Singing is a gem in its own right.
Thea Gilmore: Don't Stop Singing – review
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Caroline Sullivan
Caroline Sullivan writes about rock and pop for the Guardian
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