Basia

BASIA
"IT'S THAT GIRL AGAIN"
(Koch, 2009)


For not having a drop of Latin blood in her, Polish chanteuse Basia sure has a way with a Latin groove, especially in the Brazilian stylings of Samba and Bossa Nova. Basia Trzetrzelewska (no wonder she only goes by her first name as a recording artist) hit the peak of her popularity back in the late '80s and early '90s, and before that was a member of jazz group Matt Bianco. She reunited with Matt Bianco for their 2004 album "Matt's Mood", but other than that, this -- the tongue-in-cheekly titled "It's That Girl Again" -- is Basia's first album of new material in 15 years.

I'm delighted to say that neither she nor her music seem to have aged a day. Her voice is as robust and enchanting as it ever was, and this batch of songs is as much a breath of fresh air now as her early albums were a decade and a half ago. I'd have to go back and listen to them again to be sure, but I think this album may have a wider variety of sounds than any of her previous discs. It's tough to lull Basia into a true ballad on this album, but "A Gift" and the idyllic "Two Islands" come close. The frantic chorus of the appropriately urgently titled "I Must" is as energetic as the album (and Basia in general) gets; and "Love Lies Bleeding" is more laid back and -- I guess "whimsical" would fit as well as any other word -- than its title would suggest. Throw in the Polish-language song "Amelki Smiech" (with its swaying verses contrasting against a militaristic chorus), and you've got as eclectic a Basia album as you might ever see.

Basia's three early studio albums (and the EP nestled amongst them) have never left my collection since I bought them as new releases, and though I haven't listened to them quite as often as I probably should have been during the last 15 years, I was nonetheless looking forward to this album as soon as I heard it was coming, nearly a year before it dropped. I only hope this signals the beginning of a new, ongoing phase of Basia's solo career, because her beautiful, airy voice, with its appealing lilt of what I can only assume is a Polish accent, brings back so many warm memories of the beginnings of my obsession with music.

Blame It On The Summer - Basia