Deleted Scenes From The Cutting Room Floor

Debut album by the Dutch jazz singer. The album set a record in Emerald’s native country, spending an unprecedented 29 weeks at #1. It features the songs ‘Back It Up’, ‘A Night Like This’, ‘That Man’, ‘Stuck’ and ‘Riviera Life’.Review
This album has spent longer at number one in the Dutch charts (27 non-consecutive weeks) than any other, and although thats a bit like saying “Sneezy was the tallest of the Seven Dwarfs” it shouldnt be taken lightly. Thriller only managed 26 weeks. Its also the sort of album that could only have been taken seriously somewhere like Hollandbig-band jazz and lounge, fronted by a vocalist channelling Jane Russells wardrobe. However, Deleted Scenes From the Cutting Room Floor is so thoroughly joyous and cleverly thought out its almost impossible not to be seduced by it.
Emerald is a conservatory trained jazz vocalist and its her consummate mastery of this specific skill allows her to hold her own against a fiery swing band, while focussing on interpreting the songs not just hitting the notes. These dozen songs ease their way around swing, mambo, rumba and lounge, as big rich vocals weave the kind of witty, intriguing stories sure to draw you into a world of loves lost, found and betrayed. The orchestrations, too, understand the styles to such a degree they can be subverted with subtle modern twists to stop this being a museum piece: the spectacular Absolutely Me is what Cab Calloway would have done if hed ever had a drum machine; The Other Woman features the funkiest xylophone youll ever hear, mixed with the sort of electric guitar that ought to have its own 60s TV theme.
But while the arrangements add an almost cinematic setting to the narratives, this is all about the vocals. Numbers like Just One Dance and You Dont Love Me are Basie-type big band pushing Emerald to fabulous heights, while Back It Up shows off a croon so smoky it could extinguish most modern torches. New Orleans-style syncopation causes no problems either as bounces through the quirky Dr Wanna Do and even a couple of thinner songs are brought back to life by singing of this quality.
Really, its not rocket sciencegood songs sung well makes a great album. Ultimately its a bit like their approach to football, city centre traffic and recreational drugs, one more example of how the Dutch seem to know something we dont.–Lloyd Bradley