Annie Lennox Returns with “Nostalgia,” a Sublime Collection of Classic Covers
Iconic Eurythmics vocalist Annie Lennox returns this month with her sixth solo album, a collection of jazz and R&B standards appropriately titled Nostalgia. It’s a long way from the dark and edgy synth/rock she recorded with her long-time partner Dave Stewart, showing once again Lennox’s seemingly endless versatility as an artist. Covers albums can be notoriously hit-or-miss, but Nostalgia is a lovingly crafted collection that is thoroughly enjoyable. Although many of the tracks on Nostalgia have already been recorded innumerable times by a vast array of artists, Lennox’spassionate and exquisite vocal performances inject them with fresh vitality. She approaches each classic song with profound reverence, and does justice to them all. At 59, Lennox has never sounded better, and Nostalgia as a whole arguably represents the finest vocal collection of her career. She doesn’t over-sing or allow vocal theatrics to overshadow the potency of these classic songs, and she doesn’t shy away from tackling material that is among the most revered of the century.
There are many highlights. The first single is Annie’s take on Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ 1956 single “I Put a Spell on You,” and it’s a stunner. Annie’s haunting vocal performance, over a taut piano arrangement, is spellbinding. She takes a song that’s been recorded by seemingly everyone under the sun and makes it something new and wonderful, a feat she accomplishes over and over again on Nostalgia.
Her jaw-dropping take on Gershwin’s “Summertime” is worth the price of the album by itself. Her vocal performance is subtle and evocative and Lennox has the presence, the natural drama and power to make this over-recorded song her own. She delivers an elegant version of the jazz standard “I Cover the Waterfront,” and a beautifully soulful rendition of “Georgia on My Mind.” Her take on Billie Holliday’s 1939 classic “Strange Fruit” is appropriately chilling. “God Bless the Child,” another song made famous by Billie Holliday (also from 1939), is simply rapturous. The romantic ballad “You Belong To Me,” with a simple piano and strings accompaniment, is absolutely lovely, as is her recording of “September in the Rain.”
The wistful “I Can Dream, Can’t I?” — a song originally performed in the 1938 musical Right This Way — is pure magic. “The Nearness of You,” a song popularized in 1938 by the Glen Miller Orchestra, is another moment of refined beauty, with Lennox delivering an elegantly stylish vocal. She closes the album with a jaunty take on the jazz standard “Mood Indigo,” an ebullient performance with real verve and energy.
Producers Mike Stevens and Don Was should also be given credit for the dazzling power of Nostalgia. They handle the material deftly, allowing Lennox to shine and keeping the arrangements sparse, beautiful and unobtrusive.
Nostalgia is out September 30 exclusively on vinyl, and will be available on other formats on October 21. It’s a must-have collection of some of the greatest songs of the 20th century performed with extraordinary grace and power. Lennox takes songs that are 70-plus years old and injects them with an immediacy and elegance that makes them sound current and vital. It’s a triumphant chapter to an already legendary career.
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