'Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor' – Caro Emerald
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CD Review – ‘Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor’ – Caro Emerald (First Published: June 2011) The Blurb Imagine it’s the 1940s. You find yourself sitting in a hazy tiki lounge, the lights are dim and there’s an electric din in the room while a beautiful femme fatale sings her torch song onstage. The bass is deep, the horns are firing and for some reason a DJ is scratching in the corner… Dutch artist Caro Emerald’s debut album, ‘Deleted Scenes from the Cutting Room Floor,’ unashamedly revels in old-school ragtime and jazz, yet in this sense is actually able to make it sound fresh without seeming like a cheap imitation or clueless re-creation. With its curious blend of post- war Hollywood-era sound and present-day DJ work of bleeps and scratches, this album provides an interesting soundscape of both the moody and lovelorn and the fun and cheeky. Standout tracks include That Man, with its bouncy bass and jaunty piano work, as well as bawdy and brassy Just One Dance that follows a slow and slinky beat along with seductive vocals by Emerald that wouldn’t look out of place on the recent Burlesque soundtrack. Riviera Life, meanwhile, has a cruisey, almost Parisian feel with its summery shuffle and jumpy bass line, as well as Absolutely Me sharing in the commonly fun vibe and is most likely one of the cheekier among the album tracks. Back It Up, the first single off ‘Deleted Scenes…,’ has a good mix of lively horns, smoky rhythm and a nice littering of scratches and bleeps nicely contrasted with the sweet and light vocals of Emerald, and is a great track to release to showcase a bright new talent. Probably the most dramatic track on this album is ‘I Know That He’s Mine,’ that uses a clap-along beat with a tale of love and woe. However, what makes this particular track stands out is its simplicity that has a minimal beat and sullen strings looped nicely throughout. Closing number, ‘The Lipstick On His Collar,’ also follows along in this same vein and provides a pretty understated ending to the mostly brassy yet relaxed feel of ‘Deleted Scenes…,’ almost incomplete in a way because the song is so low-key compared to the sass and attitude Emerald provides on prior tracks. It would have been nice to end such a vibrant album with a bigger bang. ‘Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor’ is an ambitious effort in today’s musical world full of gangsta rap and a constant stream of dance music. In much the same vein as the music of Amy Winehouse and Christina Aguilera’s 2006 album ‘Back to Basics,’ Emerald is riding the same wave in bringing back the old-school ragtime and jazz vibe, and as subdued as her debut may be it still creates something many other albums today cannot: a musical atmosphere that transports you back to a time where the music was raw and sexy while still injecting a little of the present in between. Bianca Bozzi .