Let's Walk

by Madeleine Peyroux

Overview

Let's Walk is the ninth album by Madeleine Peyroux. On her previous outings, she recorded covers of jazz and Great American Songbook standards and works of contemporary songwriters. While she's often co-written songs with her collaborators, Let's Walk is entirely composed of her written originals, which offer excellent lyrics as she continues to mine jazz, blues, and folk. Longtime guitarist Jon Herrington wrote the charts. He plays several instruments, as does pianist Andy Ezrin; also in her band are bassist Paul Frazier and drummer/percussionist Graham Hawthorne. Peyroux also recruited a top-shelf backing chorus: Catherine Russell, Cindy Mizelle, and Keith Fluitt. Peyroux's writing here is often topical, clever, and thornily humorous. During the pandemic she read the writings of James Baldwin, W.E.B. Dubois, Cornel West, all of whom inspired her. Opener "Find True Love" combines folk and rag blues with a vintage New Orleans flavor in a joyous 21st century spiritual with anthemic testimony: "... I promise to be open to feel joy and pain/the only way to make a life is to fail and try again." "How I Wish" is a poignant folk waltz that reflects on race, class, and violence in America through the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, and Ahmaud Arbery. Peyroux cleverly describes the assorted shades of her "American heart," which will likely inspire rage among the intolerant, right-wing culture police. The title track commences with the chorus as a gospel choir in the round. When the instruments appear, driven by the one-two bassline, they buoy the singers in a joyful gospel anthem of communal truth and solidarity: "Let's walk Let's roll/Let us advance our mortal bodies up where hearts and minds will go¿.Let's Walk, let's roll, In step we bless togetherness from far and wide, from heel to toe ¿." "Please Come Inside" is a swampy electric blues showcasing Peyroux's glorious falsetto. Its lyrics offer comfort to the lonely. The Charles Brown-esque tune "Blues for Heaven" weaves vintage 1940s-era swing and jump blues as the singer longs for "Heaven oh Heaven/Dreaming of how sweet it must be/Heaven oh Heaven/Make room for a sinner like me." Peyroux isn't French, but she's spent a lot of time working and living in Paris. She wrote "Le Puis" in French with deep affection for the city. The laid-back calypso in "Me and the Mosquito" is modeled on Hank Williams' "Fly Trouble." The loungey "Nothing Personal" is a piano-based tune in which the songwriter confronts sexual abuse -- her own and others -- with a mournful clarinet solo by guest Stan Harrison. "Showman Dan" joins jump, boogie-woogie, swing, and jazz-blues with wonderful lyrics before closer "Take Care" offers an ironic spoken vocal, with Herington playing calypso guitar and marimba (a sample). While Peyroux expertly commands the styles and forms she always has, her wonderful, songwriting elevates Let's Walk to an entirely different level. Essential. ~ Thom Jurek

Product Details

Release Date:	06/28/2024
Label:	Just One Recording
UPC:	0691835879338

Tracks

1. Find True Love
2. How I Wish
3. Let's Walk
4. Please Come on Inside
5. Blues for Heaven
6. Et Puis
7. Me and the Mosquito
8. Nothing Personal
9. Showman Dan
10. Take Care

Album Credits

Performance Credits

Madeleine Peyroux   Primary Artist,Vocals,Guitar (Acoustic)
Jon Herington   Guitar,Vocals,Marimba,Mandolin,Sampling,Synthesizer,Guitar (Bass)
Keith Fluitt   Vocals
Graham Hawthorne   Drums,Percussion
Stan Harrison   Clarinet
Andy Ezrin   Piano,Harmonium,Wurlitzer,Fender Rhodes,Orchestra Bells,Organ (Hammond),Vox Continental
Catherine Russell   Vocals
Paul Frazier   Guitar (Bass)
Cindy Mizelle   Vocals

Technical Credits

Mathew Scheiner   Engineer
Elliot Scheiner   Engineer,Producer,Mixing
Madeleine Peyroux   Composer,Producer
Darcy Proper   Mastering
Jon Herington   Composer,Producer
Mary Maurer   Art Direction
Michael Lau Robles   Design
Cynthia Herbst   Project Coordinator
Ebru Yildiz   Photography