Gabriela Anders
got her big break singing a duet with soft
jazz
giant
Michael Franks
, and like that
new age
patriarch,
Anders
wraps laid-back vocals around even more tranquil rhythms. It's all very calming and proficient and breezy. And also bland as hell. Like her mentor,
has a hard time injecting any soul into her work.
Wanting
, her debut album, mixes bits of her Argentine heritage with late-'70s California
; so, Brazilian music coasts along with soft and hazy saxophone fills and tapping percussion leads. It all can be very pretty -- the opening
"Fire of Love"
represents
at her most relaxed and relaxing -- but boring if you're expecting tempo shifts or even minor vocal inflections.
merely settles for a place next to the band to drift along. Yet, no one seems to be going anywhere or really caring about their passivity. ~ Michael Gallucci