Florence Joelle
Album: Stealing Flowers
Label: Zaltan
Tracks: 12
Website: http://www.florencejoelle.com

Any album that pays tribute to a bus that runs from Trafalgar Square to Palmer's Green has got something going for it. Florence Joelle's "29 Bus" does just that, taking in not only the journey, but the assortment of personalities going in and out and it proves to be a great metaphor for "Stealing Flowers", her new album.

Joelle has a sound that trips along the edges of rockabilly and sophisticated night club sleaze, wire brushed drums, stand-up bass, guitars, sax and shakers delivering simple rhythms that allow her sultry vocals to capture and hold your attention and your heart.

Whilst there are a couple of covers on "Stealing Flowers", such as her take on "Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby?" the album is dominated by her self-penned songs. On the surface, some of them do feel like covers, you'll find yourself wracking your brain trying to remember who did the original, then you really listen to the song and the answer very quickly becomes Florence Joelle.

The reason for that is that she has captured that classic sound, in her writing, but has very much made the words her own so that the album speaks for her, with her voice and what a voice it is, at times it feels like seduction on a stick, like she's singing in front of your table directly to you, you have your attention and she definitely has yours and then, just as you toss her the rose, she catches it, flicks her head and moves away.

"Stealing Flowers" drips in black dress sophistication, yet an examination of the lyrics shows that this is an album that is inspired by many different parts of the human psyche and keen observation. Florence Joelle has an album that feels like one of the Sirens has fled her Greek rockery and headed off to London.

Neil King