Madeleine Peyroux wasn’t born in France but she sings like a French chanteuse and on her first album in six years “Let’s Walk” she has for the first time co-written all the songs.
Some of the songs address societal issues and her distinctive voice is framed by arrangements that range from jazz to folk, blues, latin rhythms and even tongue-in-cheek spoken word.
There’s a song dedicated to her adopted home town of Paris, where she began her career busking in the city’s latin quarter as a teen in the 80s. She sings with the disarming grace of an artist who knows how to have a musical dialogue with her audience.
Having a hand in writing all the songs has brought them to a higher level of engagement. Whether it’s confessional, political or whimsical it’s good to have her crooning vocals back to bring these songs alive.