Siobhán Pettit: A voice for many tomorrows to come

It seems that lovers of smooth jazz and easy listening have quite a number of voices to enjoy lately–Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Jodie Brooke Wilson (who visited Manila last September). Now comes Siobhán Pettit, of Irish descent, who is in the country to promote her first internationally released album, Long Ago Tomorrow.

In this album, Pettit sings 14 songs composed by Burt Bacharach (12 with lyrics by Hal David and two by Elvis Costello aka Declan McManus). As these songs have been interpreted by the likes of Dusty Springfield, Barbra Streisand, Karen Carpenter, Aretha Franklin, and Dionne Warwick (the original "Bacharach Girl"), Pettit has quite an illustrious–and intimidating–pedigree to live up to, and happily in this album she shows herself a legitimate member of the Bacharach clan.

Although Pettit names Sarah Vaughan as among the artists she admires, her approach is different from "the divine one." She is one of those singers who, as a friend put it, "trusts the song." Here are no gratuitous ornamentation, no overwrought emotionalism, and no orchestral fanfare–the vocal equivalent of writing without italicization or underscoring.

That isn’t to say, however, that Pettit is vocally unimpressive. Bacharach’s compositions have been described by music critics as "technically sophisticated," "unconventional," and (paradoxically) "very complex but still elementary." Pettit herself once commented that "Bacharach is such a clever writer musically. He throws things at you, like little odd bars, and he takes a song in a direction you don’t expect." These challenges Pettit overcomes with ease. The voice itself might remind one of Debbie Gibson’s. There is a girlish fragility that works well with songs like A House Is Not a Home.

The appeal of the album, however, comes from the songs themselves as much as from the singer. Among the selections are the best and most popular of Burt Bacharach’s compositions: Walk on By, I Say a Little Prayer, The Look of Love, What the World Needs Now Is Love, among others. Listening to them makes us recall why he is one of the most important composers of popular music, with over 50 top 40 songs, interpreted over the decades by more than 60 artists, from Tom Jones to Jack Jones and Patty Page to Sandy Patty. The melodies are catchy and the lyrics, as these from Wives and Lovers, make them all the more memorable:

Day after day

There are girls at the office

And men will always be men

Don’t send him off with your hair still in curlers

You may not see him again.

For wives should always be lovers too.

Run to his arms the moment he comes home to you.

The additional value of the album is that two of Bacharach’s newer works are included: This House Is Empty Now and Painted from Memory, two recent collaborations with Elvis Costello.

Interesting, too, are the twists that the songs are given. A number are augmented by soothing piano or saxophone solos. (They Long to Be) Close to You is given a more energetic arrangement, and it is worthwhile to compare it to the Carpenters’ version of the song. I’ll Never Fall in Love Again is slowed down, bringing the pathos of the song to the foreground (What do you get when you fall in love? / A guy with a pin to burst your bubble . . .).

All in all, Long Ago Tomorrow serves at once as a tribute to a great composer and an introduction to a promising voice, certain to be pleasant listening for many tomorrows to come.