Much like 2001's Songs I Heard and 2004's Only You, 2009's Your Songs finds vocalist/pianist Harry Connick, Jr. coming up with an urbane and passionate set of American popular songs and contemporary pop classics that he both performs and orchestrates. While his previous recordings leaned toward the classicist side -- Only You featured songs of the '50s and '60s -- Your Songs features a more eclectic mix of standards and pop songs with Connick's own lush orchestration lending an overall aesthetic of languid romanticism. To this end, Connick turns Billy Joel's "Just the Way You Are" into a kind of Herb Alpert-inspired '60s pop nugget and, conversely, the Beatles' 1964 classic "And I Love Her" gets a kind of '70s Latin lounge feel with classical guitar flourishes. However, Connick isn't only concerned with reworking tunes in unexpected ways; on the contrary, longtime fans of Connick's swinging neo-crooner work will be pleasantly surprised by his straightforward takes on "Just the Way You Look Tonight" and "Some Enchanted Evening." Similarly engaging are his renditions of such rock-oriented tunes the album's Elton John title track, his low-key version of Don McLean's "And I Love You So," and the Carpenters' "(They Long to Be) Close to You." Ultimately, Your Songs is a classy and feel-good stroll of an album.
Our weekly recap of veteran artists on the current Australian music charts. Chart highlights:It is a very static week on the Australian charts with just slight shuffling on most releases. Madonna still holds the top album by a veteran artist with Celebration which slips 6 to 8. Right behind at number 9 for the second week is Australian institution Jimmy Barnes.The only new album by a veteran on
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Music for the week of September 22nd, 2009Your Songs - Harry Connick Jr.Harry Connick Jr. is going to be making a lot of TV appearances in order to promote the album. This coming week, he'll be on Oprah (on the 25th). The first single released almost a month ago, "(They long to be) Close To You" originally written by Burt Bacharach and Hal David in 1970. The album is mainly songs selected by ...
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Our weekly recap of veteran artists on the current Australian music charts. Chart highlights:Harry Connick, Jr. takes the highest charting album by a veteran artist in Australia as his Your Songs moves 18 to 9. He replaces Madonna's Celebration which goes 8 to 11.After falling out of the the top fifty for a week, Whitney Houston's I Look to You jumps back in at 33.In country, Johnny Cash recl...
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 "Your Songs")
