You could call this a folk album but that might put it into a musical box some people might avoid which would be a shame; I think it's really good and I'm no folk fan!

The Icelandic/Italian singer songwriter has penned a hit for Kylie (the number one Slow, since you ask), however this is miles away from synthetic chart fodder.

Her singing voice has echoes of countrywoman Bjork, mainly in pronunciation. In contrast, musically, where Bjork swoops and explodes, Torrini is more of a slow burner, instead placing her faith in delicate guitar parts and picked melodies leaving plenty of space around her voice.

This album is a complete style shift from her first Love In The Time Of Science from 2000, which is kind of trip-hop; the songs here have been completely stripped down to vocals, acoustic or electric guitar and piano, which should have easily exposed any poor songwriting - no worries, this is a consistent and enveloping album.

Live dates around the UK in March, so check out Sunny Road (they'll be a dub version when released as a single), At Least It Was and title track Fisherman's Woman in preparation.


Mike Hales