Half the Perfect World

Madeleine Peyroux | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (September 12, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 2006
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Rounder / UMGD
• ASIN: B000GFLE86
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (97 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,154 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Smokey-voiced chanteuse Madeleine Peyroux's third CD is a lovely collection of after-hours ruminations and should confirm her rise to fame. Credit producer Larry Klein for doing a bang-up job with the album's sound: the elegant, pared-down arrangements are all brushed drums, acoustic guitars, and cool organ licks. But of course it's Peyroux's voice that brings it all home--preferably one where the shades are drawn, embers are smoldering in the fireplace, and the white wine is kept dry. Two-thirds of the songs are well-chosen covers, including a duet with k.d. lang on Joni Mitchell's "River"; a relaxed version of Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'," from Midnight Cowboy; a delicately lilting samba take on Leonard Cohen and Anjani Thomas's title track; Serge Gainsbourg's "La Javanaise," performed in the original French; and Charlie Chaplin's "Smile," from Modern Times. The four originals, all coauthored by Peyroux, easily keep up with such august company, especially "I'm All Right"--written with Klein and Walter Becker, it captures the easy sophistication of Becker's regular band, Steely Dan. Fans of Norah Jones (whose collaborator Jesse Harris cowrote three of the songs) should gobble up this album, but Peyroux is no mere imitator: She's her own, very real thing. --Elisabeth Vincentelli

More Madeleine

Dreamland	Careless Love	Got You on My Mind (with William Galison)

Product Description

Madeleine Peyroux doesn’t simply interpret songs, she possesses them…and vice versa. Half the Perfect World is the much-anticipated follow-up to Peyroux’s breakthrough album, Careless Love, which drew critical raves from around the world and sold more than a million copies. This time around, Peyroux focuses primarily on songs written by artists from her lifetime, including Leonard Cohen, Tom Waits and Fred Neil. The album also features an unforgettable duet with k.d. lang on the Joni Mitchell classic "River" and four original songs co-written by Peyroux, including the single "I’m All Right" which she penned with producer Larry Klein and Steely Dan’s Walter Becker. Half the Perfect World is a sublime showcase for Peyroux’s eloquent, understated delivery and timeless one-of-a-kind voice.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

85 of 87 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It has charms, December 11, 2006

By 

Vishal Bhartia - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Half the Perfect World (Audio CD)

The eagerly awaited follow-up album to the enigmatic singer's phenomenally successful "Careless Love" may not be as beguiling, but it has charms of its own - not least the upbeat, laughter-filled opener, "I'm All Right" (an original composition), Serge Gainsbourg's "La Javanaise" and Leonard Cohen's sensual "Blue Alert".
There is a stronger country vibe and, if anything, the lackadaisical Billie Holiday drawl is even more in evidence than in the first CD.
And if ever a song suited the persona of the singer, it's "Everybody's Talkin".
When beauty is understated...

69 of 73 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Genuine talent with an old fashioned charm, November 10, 2006

By 

MUSiCOLOGY - See all my reviews

This review is from: Half the Perfect World (Audio CD)

Madeleine Peyroux comes across as an artist older than her years.

Even though she is only in her early 30's, her music and voice sound like they belong to the previous generation.

The fact that Peyroux's voice absolutely reeked of her Billie Holiday influences somewhat tarnished that breakthrough album "Careless Love".

For her new album, "Half The Perfect World", she showcases the emotional core of songs by other singers and songwriters she's admired, and also displays her talents as a writer on four songs she co-wrote, keeping a distinctly romantic edge.

The CD is slightly less heavy on the Holiday-isms but more intriguing in the song selection.

For Peyroux tackles the love songs she loves, treating them to timelessly jazzy readings.

Given the makeover are Johnny Mercer's "The Summer Wind", Leonard Cohen's "Blue Alert", Joni Mitchell's "River", Fred Neil's "Everybody's Talkin'", Tom Waits's "(Looking For) The Heart Of Saturday Night", Serge Gainsburg's "La Javanaise" and Charlie Chaplin's "Smile".

The album conjures in the mind imagery of smoky bars, music lifted from the screen of an American feelgood movie. Drums are always light brushes, barely touching the skins, guitars light and fruity, clearly a double bass rather than an electric.

No cutting edges are approached, no taboos challenged, but it is a pleasant amble through familiar territory.

45 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars STRANGE FRUIT., October 28, 2006

By 

Y. Dharnidharka "D" (Middlebury, VT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Half the Perfect World (Audio CD)

Madeleine Peyroux's occasionally acidic voice has drawn comparisons to Billie Holiday, which, while not entirely amiss, tended to overlook a singular facet of Holiday's style: When Holiday sounded like she was keeping something from you, it was because it hurt too much to be expressed. Peyroux's floating, Georgian-inflected alto, though similarly enigmatic (a "Mona Lisa voice," wrote New York Times cabaret critic Stephen Holden), seems to barely conceal excessive happiness.
Take Half the Perfect World's opening track, "I'm All Right". She's dating a lout, who "makes her cry", and who "threw a few of my things around", but it's all right, because she's been lonely before.
She sings it with resignation, but where Holiday, for all her strength, would've made you feel pity, Peyroux impresses you with her resilience. Consider it the postfeminist style of female jazz vocalism.
With its chunk-chunk guitar, brushed drums and B3 organ, the stage is set for Peyroux to lay down a soft-focus album--and she does. The title track, by Leonard Cohen, is turned into a soft samba, and Joni Mitchell's "River" is sung with k.d. lang, who doesn't steal the spotlight.
In a world clogged with mediocre jazz chanteuses--with the dreaded Norah Jones at the front of the line--Peyroux's soul and melting voice stand out, way out, from the pack. She remains a happy enigma.