Sophie Zelmani
Memory loves you
Sony/BMG
On Sophie's sixth album, intimacy comes first. Her band could be playing right there in the room with you, as Sophie sits and whispers into the listener's ear. While her musical palette has basically been the same reflective songs for dusky autumn days since 98's "Precious burden", "Memory loves you" pours a bit of light and optimism into the melancholia. A light that gives the album an identity and feel of its own. A feel that Sophie finally seems comfortable in facing her audience, by baring herself in songs like the gorgeous stripped down "I got yours". Album highlight "Love on my mind" even dares to climax with a piano that's straight out of ABBA. A few times, the strings cross over from beautiful to saccharine, but mostly the songs wrap the listener up in a tender embrace. Letting us know that spring is on the way, and that there is a tender beauty even in the bleakest rooms.
- Hanzan