Okeh

The multilingual Norweigan singer-songwriter Silje Nergaard (who first established herself as a jazz singer at the age of 16 after joining an impromptu jam session with Jaco Pastorious) has assembled a "concept album" composed of two sessions with divergent production styles. Part one of this sprawling project — Japanese Blue — is Nergaard revisiting her greatest hits in spare, striking arrangements with just acoustic piano accompaniment from Espen Berg. Sonically, the high-resolution recording here captures a crisp, detailed, natural musicality. Older songs like "Be Still My Heart," and the superb "Based on a Thousand True Stories" clearly benefit from her years of interpretation and live performance. She also adds a wonderful sad tinge to Freddie Mercury's "Love of My Life," and turns in a credible performance of the Louis Armstrong hit, "What a Wonderful World." Hamar Railway Station, the second set, is eight new songs recorded with an electric band where she sings in English (with an assist from longtime lyricist partner Mike McGurk) before repeating it in Norwegian. Recorded in a punchier, synth-led style, in which Andreas Ulvo's minimoog and Fender Rhodes add welcome textures, the full band bounce and layered backing vocals in songs like "Train of Fragile Hearts" and "The Night Traveller" make for bright, 80's soft rock that speak of love and hurt while eschewing much innovation or edginess. Which session represents Nergaard's true calling? Or is she a multi-faceted artist covering bases? The contrasts on Silje Nergaard pose intriguing questions. © Robert Baird/Qobuz

The multilingual Norweigan singer-songwriter Silje Nergaard (who first established herself as a jazz singer at the age of 16 after joining an impromptu jam session with Jaco Pastorious) has assembled a "concept album" composed of two sessions with divergent production styles. Part one of this sprawling project — Japanese Blue — is Nergaard revisiting her greatest hits in spare, striking arrangements with just acoustic piano accompaniment from Espen Berg. Sonically, the high-resolution recording here captures a crisp, detailed, natural musicality. Older songs like "Be Still My Heart," and the superb "Based on a Thousand True Stories" clearly benefit from her years of interpretation and live performance. She also adds a wonderful sad tinge to Freddie Mercury's "Love of My Life," and turns in a credible performance of the Louis Armstrong hit, "What a Wonderful World." Hamar Railway Station, the second set, is eight new songs recorded with an electric band where she sings in English (with an assist from longtime lyricist partner Mike McGurk) before repeating it in Norwegian. Recorded in a punchier, synth-led style, in which Andreas Ulvo's minimoog and Fender Rhodes add welcome textures, the full band bounce and layered backing vocals in songs like "Train of Fragile Hearts" and "The Night Traveller" make for bright, 80's soft rock that speak of love and hurt while eschewing much innovation or edginess. Which session represents Nergaard's true calling? Or is she a multi-faceted artist covering bases? The contrasts on Silje Nergaard pose intriguing questions. © Robert Baird/Qobuz