If
Melody Gardot
's 2009 sophomore effort,
My One and Only Thrill
, sustained the sultry, atmospheric vibe of her critically acclaimed 2006 debut, her 2012 follow-up,
The Absence
, is a bit of a creative departure for the vocalist. Apparently inspired by her world travels, and specifically by a trip that brought her to the desert around the city of Marrakech, the album moves her away from smoky, small-group jazz and into a bright, if still bedroom-eyed, rhythmically exotic sound. Produced by guitarist/composer
Heitor Pereira
, the album is a lush, somewhat orchestral album that finds
Gardot
delving into various Brazilian, Spanish, and African-influenced sounds -- including bits of samba, tango, bossa nova, and calypso -- that evince her global journey. However, rather than simply making a standards album,
continues her all-original approach, offering up new literate and passionately delivered compositions that bring to mind the work of such similarly inclined artists as
Antonio Carlos Jobim
,
Paul Simon
Caetano Veloso
Gilberto Gil
, and others. Although there are a few name musicians who help add spice to
's musical caravan here, including percussionist
Paulinho Da Costa
, drummer
Peter Erskine
, and bassist
John Leftwich
, primarily it is still
's burnished and yearning vocal style that takes the helm on these tracks. ~ Matt Collar