Krystle Warren and the Faculty ‘Love songs: a time you may embrace’ (Parbour door) 4/5

Singer-songwriter Krystle Warren’s 2009 CD ‘Circles’ was a breath of fresh air and covered a lot of stylistic ground. If anything, the new album is even more eclectic than before and delves to a greater extent into the sub-genres of Americana, though still manages to maintain a cohesive whole. This being said, much of what worked on the previous album has been retained. Thus jazzy flavours permeate the waltz-like ‘Tuesday morning’ with both brass and strings in evidence while the uplifting ‘You can take me with you’ is an example of the pared down side to the songwriter with catchy lyrics and female background vocals to the fore. Krystle Warren sits somewhere between Tracy Chapman and Phoebe Snow in approach (the latter especially in the range of influences) and the breathy vocals on ‘Little wonder’ lend a folksy feel to this particular song. Americana surfaces once more on ‘I worry less’ which is a potential single. Not averse to taking a risk or two, ragtime jazz meets pop to good effect on ‘Five minutes late’ while even more daring is an adaptation of a William Blake poem ‘The clod and the pebble’. This album is quirky enough to attract an audience in search of something different and Warren has an imediately recognisable voice. With a UK tour forthcoming in May, a wider public will finally have access to her work and live Krystle Warren’s diversity will surely come to life even more.

Tim Stenhouse