Jill Barber.Vanessa Heins
Fool's Gold is Jill Barber's fourth LP since her switch from willowy folk balladry to a more retro-sophisticated musical outlook, but the album seems like a follow-up to her ubiquitous car-commercial song Never Quit Loving You than anything else.
On Fool's Gold, Barber continues to be fascinated by the Eisenhower era (elegant romantic pop, with impish strings and a sheen polished with long, white gloves), but adds some soul (classic and country) and even a touch of jaunty roots music.
On the bossa nova-hinting Only You she sings (in her distinctive sweet-tremulous warble) about keeping her heart on the shelf, instead of putting it on the line. Indeed, what some might find missing here is a lack of drama – Barber is a bit noir on the bass-saxophoned Broken For Good, but otherwise the touches are light and the moods are neutral. She serves the songs instead of dominating them, never overselling the emotion. Classy and tasteful.
Brad Wheeler