Who knew modern jazz could sound this incredible? For any jazz fan out there, I would highly recommend that you give the latest release by Beth Hirsch, Wholehearted a listen. Even those not into her genre of music will be vastly impressed. An inspiring mix of Joni Mitchell and Julia Fordham, the songs featured on Wholehearted have a lasting summery feel, especially the title track.
While the theme of the entire CD is relaxed, there is also a touch of feistiness ("I'm a lunatic in love"). And how can one NOT fall in love with this CD and the music that is presented on it? This album is laid back, with beautiful, subtle and clever melodies. Hirsch is certainly a talented singer who succeeds at what she puts out onto the market, and of course, she does not fail to be just as stellar on this album.
For those familiar with the French band Air, she is the lovely voice on the tracks of their songs "All I Need" and "You Make It Easy." With the right songs and producers, Hirsch proves she can give some mainstream artists a run for their money, with captivating beats and sweet melodies that makes this CD a must-have, whether it is to add to a jazz music collection or to give a basic collection of music a spice of variety.
The tracks on Wholehearted express a love for music. Beautifully arranged and optimistic lyrics are set to music with a slightly sentimental sound; it's a CD that can be enjoyable to the entire family. And on this particular album, her music, delivery and voice are captivating and energizing; the lyrics have incredible depth and insight.
With this winning combination, it is immaculately executed, a thoroughly refreshing experience, and establishes Hirsch as a unique artist. If you are expecting the sound-alike tunes of modern day music, then this album wouldn't fit into your music library at all, but if you are looking for a voice and lyrics to find your inner self--then you have come to the right place. After basking in the brilliance of Wholehearted, I had also taken the liberty of listening to her previous works, and I am certainly glad I did. The works of Beth Hirsch are a great find that is no doubt a talent that deserves to be internationally recognized.
**** L. ANNE CARRINGTON
Beth Hirsch has been dealt a strange hand it seems. For someone who is in fact a musically-literate household name – thanks to the global success of Air's Moon Safari (on which she sings and co-writes You Make It Easy and the seminal All I Need) – she has managed to since remain untouched by media spotlights. Even the artistic brilliance of solo debut Early Years, having a gorgeous duet with Wassis Diop featured in a key scene of 'The Thomas Crown Affair' and the big name producers on her second, critically acclaimed album Titles & Idols didn't manage to propel her to international superstardom. Judging by her latest work, however, this may not have been such a disaster.
Nearly six years on from Titles & Idols, it appears that time has been kind. Hirsch's evasion of mainstream fame has hearteningly preserved her authenticity and talent. Early Days was so called as it marked her first etchings and attempts at defining herself as a musician. Wholehearted is just as aptly titled; Hirsch has clearly put her all into its making, wisely choosing to focus on her strengths as both performer and writer rather than studio wizardry. By offsetting the striking versatility displayed on Titles & Idols with the bare bones of her debut, Wholehearted brings us the sound of a more mature artist who has found her niche. It's organic in sound and full of warmth and feeling. Her voice has always been astonishing, and now her songwriting really works in harmony with the most striking qualities of this most powerful of assets. Hirsch appears to be at a point in her life where uncertainties have been dealt with and some resolve reached. You only have to read the song titles – "Love Will Come Again," "All Together" and "Glad To Know" – to get a sense of assurance. It's a rare creature indeed who has the grace to spare us the usual self-indulgence and deliver something that's both optimistic and touching.
As one might expect from a Florida-born, LA resident, these songs have a lasting summery feel. Take the title track for instance; drenched in trumpets and laidback piano, it would perfectly complement a hazy August evening. Habitually in Hirsch's music, however, there's a slight sense of paradox. Optimistic lyrics are often set to music with a slightly sentimental sound, and it is this edge that keeps you coming back. "This slate is clean, but not from heaven" she sings on Indelibly You, hinting some unrest still remaining. While on the whole the record is a relaxed affair, there's a touch of feistiness too ("I'm a lunatic in love"). Externalising a little, Hirsch makes some sharp and cutting observations in the magnificent "Life Is Short But Wide," a song that looks at the ever-potent issue of war and what it's good for (hint: not much). Her soldier protagonist writes home "but Hope has died, just as I have died / I learnt today that life is short but wide."
Simply put, Wholehearted is an album borne out of love of music. Beautifully arranged and immaculately executed, it's a thoroughly refreshing experience. While the electronic sounds capes of Titles & Idols were a wonderful addition to Hirsch's sound, her return to these simpler, uncluttered stylings is a welcome affirmation of her talent.
**** Rod Thomas
A woman with strength that speaks can be really good for us macho men sometimes. Beth Hirsch from Los Angeles is such a woman who knows what she wants. She's waited six years since her last album and now her newest CD Wholehearted is completely self-financed. You know her voice perhaps, from Moon Safari (by the French hit group Air) as the feminine vocals of the successful album and wrote two numbers for that CD ("You Make It Easy" and "All I Need").
Wholehearted is her third solo album after Early Days from 1999 and Titles & Idols from 2001 with which they say about it that it's inconceivable in having succeeded as good as totally from the floodlights to remain little known, despite single beautiful numbers on those albums. On this CD let Beth Hirsch see and hear that the many years of maturity has won in the long run. Her excellent voice at the most wonderful level by the songs that on "Wholehearted" are back to find. From her opgedane experience of life wrote the beautiful texts in "Love Will Come Again", "All Together" and "Glad To Know".
The title track "Wholehearted" is a modern, jazzy and sentimental piano-popsong with subtle blazers on the background. Also the use lynx and levensverslindende war becomes even portrayed in the glittering "Life Is Short But Wide" ("Hope has died, just as I have died / I learnt today that life is short but wide"). My favorite number comes just totally on the end of this CD. "Our Song" is a guitarsong that stretching are built up and of excellent vocals is to foresee. Top work. The professional arrangements of the songs on "Wholehearted" are excellent and fresh and radiates class through the whole album as well as the easy coasting/floating from this talented realm singer.
You become calm by the listening to of this laidback and jazzy songs and the sound of the voice of Beth Hirsch that sometimes does make one think of Rickie Lee Jones and Joni Mitchell. Let that especially be a subtle compliment its of kind.
**** RootsTime review by Freddy Celis, 09/24/07 (translated from Dutch to English)
Titles & Idols
"Before we go any further, yes, Beth did sing on Air's 'All I Need' and yes, Muzik did blub like a bitch with a skinned knee upon first hearing it, and yes there is more than a passing sonic resemblance to Norfolk's finest Beth, Ms. Orton. Alright? Since last year's debut 'Early Days", Hirsch has decamped to NY and managed to rope in Warp glitchers Black Dog to produce a fair swathe of this album, and the result is pretty fine. Occasionally lapsing into a bit of wine bar whimsy (see Captain Daylight), 'Titles and Idols' is on the whole a winsome, heartbroken gem of a record." **** Carl Stroud
Muzik (UK) Nov 2001: "Beth Hirsch's solo debut 'Early Days' found her accompanied by acoustic guitar. Her second LP is a far more ambitious affair as producers Black Dog and Custom Blue underpin her crystalline vocals with subtly pattering light beats, clever jazz inflections and humming electronic textures. It's a sharp move, particularly as their contributions are never allowed to swamp her glorious voice often compared to Joni Mitchell's. On this showing, the comparison is justified. If Hirsch's debut was her 'Blue', then 'Titles and Idols' is her 'Hissing of Summer Lawns.'" **** Nigel Williamson
Uncut (UK), Dec 2001: "To many music fans, Beth Hirsch will forever be the "voice of Air's 'All I Need' and 'You Make it Easy. But Hirsch is an accomplished singer songwriter in her own right, specializing in the sort of fragile acoustic music that oozes both beauty and soul. For her new LP 'Titles & Idols', the American chanteuse has taken the unusual step of going all-electronic. With sympathetic production from Custom Blue/Bluesound, Jackson and Black Dog man Ken Downie, all three producers manage to marry Hirsch's usual acoustic leanings and fragile voice with sympathetic, clean electronic productions. Occasionally dreamy, sometimes poignant and often beautiful, this is an album that should open Hirsch up to a larger audience - she certainly deserves it." **** Matt Anniss, IDJ (UK) Oct 2001
Early Days
"A debut album you should buy" Esquire, 2000
"On this gentle half-hour set, Hirsch bypasses electronic intervention for simpler more organic arrangements. But the focus remains on Hirsch's expressive delivery. Revealing a link to Suzanne Vega, she sounds both passionate and feathery." Time Out NY, Sept 2000
"Hirsch has the kind of fluttering, sweet and sour voice that seems both alien and familiar." Fortune, August 2000
"A record to fall in love with." Wax, June 2000
P-Town Rubies
"American-in-Paris Hirsch mixes leafy folk (Camden, Miner's Son) with clanging rhythms and on the Bang Bang mix of the title track, new wave synths with future funk. Gorgeous." The Face (UK), June 1999
"You know the voice of course. This, her debut solo effort, continues in the same laconic vein. The title track is just lovely, while the flipsides scales similar heights of restrained emotion and wistful melody. Terrific." Flipside, June 1999
"When Suzanne Vega moves to London gets into hip-hop, R&B, jazz, rap, trip hop and drum -n- bass to satisfy her musical wanderlust absorbs the whole damn shit and churns it out in the form of her own musical synthesis, this is what it'd sound like. Luv it and luv Beth." Blues&Soul, June 1999
Miner's Son
"Beth Hirsch is the finest new voice to appear since Billie Ray Martin. She is the singer who grounds the largely instrumental album by fellow French residents, Air, taking their comedown blues and turning it into nouveau folk. Her single, Miner's Son, due in January is staggering." Charlie Porter, London Times Dec. 1997
