Customer Reviews

Blue Alert

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Blue Alert has awakened me to music once again. For years I have been out of the music scene, ignoring music and listening to NPR. I caught an edition of the Bob Edward's show and heard Anjani's voice as well as the Leonard Cohen interview. Wow, the CD is wonderful. Cohen's voice in the lyrics is available and true yet, I hear a new voice rising. I've read all the reviews and agree with them mightly. The missing review is of Nightingale. What an incredible song.

The mellow jazzy-ness of this CD is not my usual listening flavor. However, in the big scheme of things, there is nothing "usual" about this CD, period.

Initially, I focused in on the lyrics which undiluted by age, are typical Cohen-inspired, genius. Not typical as in predictable, but typical as in the high standards that you come to expect with Leonard Cohen.

So the words, although sung (beautifully) by Anjani, for me have the undertones of Leonard's deep voice, subliminally speaking in the background. But in reality it is just Anjani's voice giving life to the lyrics. She seems to forget there is a microphone. It feels very intimate and honest. Her voice honors the words and the music, a trinity of things working perfectly together.

This CD can easily play 'in the background.' It is quiet and serene and pleasant listening. But you really should pay attention to the things being said, how they are being said and the beautiful backdrop of melodies supporting the works to get the full impact of this quiet, giant of a CD.

regards,

Laurie

The Hawaiian-born singer-songwriter is well known as a protegee of reclusive poet and singer Leonard Cohen and her solo debut consists of songs created from lyrics Anjani gathered from decades of Cohen's writings.

Two songs have already appeared on Madeleine Peyroux's Half the Perfect World album.

Anjani is more of a torch singer than Peyroux, her pure, dramatic tones exposed over skeletal backing. Some songs sound rather too close to demos, but she still sustains a satisfying air of beautiful gloom.

Anjani Thomas delivers "Blue Alert's 10 songs in a sensuous style that blends the cocktail-jazz croonery of Norah Jones and Katie Melua with the torch-song technique of Julie London, her smoky vocals lounging languidly over sparse arrangements of piano, organ and vibes as she muses on the mysteries of love.

Cohen's presence is discernible in the painstaking craft of lines such as "Visions of her drawing near/ Arise, abide, and disappear", and in perennial Cohen romantic metaphors like "Thanks For The Dance", whose wistful clarinet and wee-small-hours arrangement help celebrate fading pleasures with the bittersweet sting appropriate for such a collusion of Svengali and Trilby: "Thanks for the dance/ And the baby I carried/ It was almost a daughter or son".

The result is a minimalist jewel of a record, the purity of Anjani's vocals needing only the backing of her electric piano, here and there helped along by a brushed drum, a purring guitar or a poignant clarinet. It's a classic small-hours album, by turns rueful, sad and bitter, while hearing the songs from a female voice adds another twist to their ambiguity.

It's often sad, but by shaking off the melodic restrictions of those lugubrious vocals, Anjani has arguably done more for her man than any previous muse or collaborator.

Anjani Thomas, most recent girlfriend and current collaborator of legandary singer/songwriter Leonard Cohen, offers up a superb collection on this, her third, album. These songs, based on lyrics Cohen had apparently discarded--Leonard, why?--are haunting and supremely literate throughout. The words are unmistakably Cohen's, and rival his finest work. But Anjani's sultry vocals and cool jazz arrangements give this record more subtlety and depth than Cohen's own efforts have had since his late-60s heyday. Cohen himself produced the album, to good effect. Although he never actually appears on it, "Blue Alert" is, in a very real sense, a better Leonard Cohen album than Cohen's own most recent studio outing, Dear Heather, which was something of a disappointment. More importantly, Anjani's vocal prowess and memorable musical settings make "Blue Alert" an unforgettable experience in its own right.

I have given copies of this album to close friends so that they can also wallow in the purity of Anjani's voice, smile or sigh at the phrasing. Every time I play it I hear something different/more that gives greater depth to my pleasure. Anjani's voice is deceptively soft so that the punch from some lyrics is all the more surprising. Each track hints at a slightly different style but the overall effect is of one cohesive, coherent gem of an album.

Firstly, though Cohen's cool detachment and brilliant vision and lyricism fills this album, it's also a genuine collaboration. Anjani Thomas is certainly not just a pretty voice to make the master's inimitable lyrics more palatable (though I did give my sister a copy on this basis!) - her own vision colours it as well.

In the end, it's simply a beautiful, moving and occasionally powerful piece of work. A must for anyone who loves Cohen, but also a must for anyone who simply loves original lyrics and fine musicianship - as well as one of the sweetest voices I've heard for ages.

This is now one of my favorite CDs to listen to when it is dark and still. The masculine Leonard Cohen expressed thru the feminine Anjani. Simply, elegantly, beautiful.

Anjani sings these songs like they're a part of her life. She has a beautiful contralto and perfect phrasing for these lyrics. And the backing music (mainly piano and drums, played by her) is subtle and tasteful -- not too bland, not too intrusive -- just right. Quite unlike most of Leonard Cohen's own albums, though you can sort of imagine Leonard's voice in the background. I wish she and Leonard would redo 2000's "Ten New Songs": Sharon Robinson was good as a backup singer but marred it with her incredibly cheesy synthesiser accompaniments....

Somewhat reminiscent of Norah Jones on her first album, Anjani delivers the material as if she has all the time in the world to perform the song as the words require. The arrangements are slow and drowsy for the most part, but the entire group of songs just feels like it ended TOO SOON. The musical arrangements go well with the beautiful poetry of Leonard Cohen. Some of the songs seem describe a lifetime of loving and/or regret for some that got away! This is an album that I will listen to hundreds of times! Treat yourself and buy this album.

What can I say? Just an overall excellent mellow cd that is right up there with the best. I mean, how can you beat Leonard Cohen? The dudes a legend! His poetry/lyrics along with Anjani's luscious etherial voice make this a keeper. I love every song on this album. Thanks for the Dance is just terrific in sadness, clarity and openess. Sample the tracks to see if it is your style. Can't wait for her next cd.
The bonus dvd included has a couple music videos with the Golden Voice himself, LC. Neat. A real treat.