Reviews: Songs from the Floating World
Liz Aiken, Blues Matters
28/7/15 The album title is perfect for this jazz infused album that floats and is full of subtle threads and simple lyrics where every word is held and is there for a reason. The album is full of different tempos that so suit Sarah’s vocal range and perfect diction. Men Who Love Mermaids has a … Liz Aiken, Blues Matters
Doug Boynton, GIRLSINGERS.ORG
12/4/15 ‘I sometimes get nagging little notes – “Did you receive the disc?” or “What did you think? Will you review it soon?” Then something clicks, and I hear a song, or an entire album about which I must tell people. Fran Landesman was a lyricist, and what one might call a free spirit. In her 2011 obituary … Doug Boynton, GIRLSINGERS.ORG
CRYMEATORCHSONG.COM
February 2017 Video Review
Marc Myers, jazzwax.com
29/9/14 In 1994, lyricist Fran Landesman (Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most) met British composer Simon Wallace and collaborated with him on nearly 300 songs until her death in 2011. Vocalist Sarah Moule takes on 10 of those late-period ballad works with great affection here. She deploys a warm, rich sound on selections … Marc Myers, jazzwax.com
Simon Adams, Jazz Journal
November 2014 ★★★★ Sarah Moule’s fourth album finds her once more investigating the considerable legacy of lyricist Fran Landesman, who died in 2011. Ten of the 16 songs are Landesman’s, with music by longtime collaborator Simon Wallace. Moule is a fine interpreter of Landesman’s lyrics, her clear intonation, unhurried pacing and subtle note placement ideal … Simon Adams, Jazz Journal
Peter Quinn, Jazzwise
OCT 2014 ★★★★ As on her previous album, A Lazy Kind of Love, vocalist Sarah Moule’s artistic focus remains firmly fixed on the oeuvre of (husband) Simon Wallace and the late Fran Landesman – of the album’s 16 tracks, 10 come from the songwriting duo’s pens. Seven of them receive their debut recording here, including the impressionistic, floating ‘Hell’s Angel’ – a dream in which a … Peter Quinn, Jazzwise
Bruce Lindsay, allaboutjazz
Class bursts out of Songs From The Floating World ★★★★★ 20/4/15 Class will out, as they say. It’s certainly true on this album—class bursts out of Songs From The Floating World. From Sarah Moule’s sophisticated, cool, vocals and the stylish playing of the cream of British jazzers, through to Simon Wallace’s music and arrangements and … Bruce Lindsay, allaboutjazz
Clive Davis, Sunday Times
CULTURE MAGAZINE 14/9/14 She doesn’t scream she doesn’t pout. Sarah Moule is an introverted jazz-cabaret singer who believes in putting the lyrics first. You can’t quite imagine her in the company of the motor-mouthed Julie Burchill, but it is the acerbic writer who provides the words on the bittersweet Lots of People Do. Typically shrewd … Clive Davis, Sunday Times
Dave Gelly, The Observer
★★★★★ 14/9/14 ‘Cool, elegant, immaculate’ Together, Sarah Moule, Simon Wallace and Fran Landesman made a perfect trio of talents – and still do, even though Fran died three years ago. Wallace’s music exactly echoes her unsettling but deceptively simple lyrics, and Moule’s cool voice brings them both to elegant life. Among the seven Landesman songs here I particularly liked Scars and … Dave Gelly, The Observer