Play 90 second soundbite of 'All For Love' @ 'CD quality'
'Get Happy', it has to be said, is an album featuring mostly 'standard' songs from within the general genre many of which have been 'covered' a million times before. But, Clare Teal clearly stamps her signature resolutely on anything she touches. There are also three Teal originals here which show that the lady can write and write extremely well! And, there are a couple of surprises also with a couple of songs that she takes into the genre and adapts them beautifully.
Clare Teal is a lady with jazzy class and a tasty pedigree; this is her eighth studio album so she's already well established and well played. 'Get Happy' will only wow the Teal supporters further and with its radio friendliness it's sure to get decent air-play and pull in many new admirers. Teal is a stylish and smooth performer with more than a hint of sexiness in the voice department. She delivers the songs here magnificently against an empathetic and superbly polished instrumental backdrop; the album is beautifully understated which allows the subtlety and warmth of Teal's voice to be thoroughly accessible - this is one cool album!
Ok, criticism time - Clare Teal proves on three tracks here that she's no slouch when it comes to songwriting and yet the album is primarily 'covers'. I'd like to hear more of Teal's work, more original material - I'd like that challenge and I'm sure many will agree. But, what Teal's done here is certainly quite breathtaking and at least she's taken ownership of those 'standards' and made them sufficiently 'new' to get away with it. Apart from that, 'Get Happy' is actually flawless in its entirety and Clare Teal's gonna have a whole load of takers for this stunning album - quite right too!!
'Get Happy' by Clare Teal is nothing short of fantastic - a wonderfully laid back yet amazingly dynamic work of quality with that oh so hard to define, let alone reproduce, timeless feel.
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