Well, I apologize, having listened more to “Recto Verso.” It
truly is every bit as good as “Zaz,” a rare thing in popular music to do two
albums to such high standards. “Recto Verso” is genuinely excellent throughout
and quite moving in parts.
Of course, for all really fine music – classical or popular
– being able to listen to it a number of times, still getting something from
it, is almost a defining characteristic.
This is an extraordinarily talented woman. She writes fine
songs, and she sings any song with great feeling, which, to my mind, is what
this kind of French music is all about. I have a small collection of the great
chanteuses, and Zaz ranks with the very best.
Again, just as with the album, “Zaz,” she moves me to tears
in a couple of numbers. And that’s on top of all the purely pleasant music
here. The arrangements always are agreeable and never intrusive. There is simply
not one track on this album that does not please in one way or another.
That’s high praise, and she deserves it.
