Monique Angele

Crumbs, this is a curious collection of songs. Dominated by Canadian songstress Monique Angele’s extraordinary voice, this ranges from borderline opera to more parlour orientated piano pieces.

The single Poisonous Touch opens and you are hit by Ms Angele’s voice and piano, quite forcibly too. It is on the poppier side of things, though with an element of the melancholy about it. That’s followed by Eyes a lament that borders on a dirge with a distinctly Spanish feel to Ms Angele’s vocals. We then have Waltz which is a perky, jolly tune albeit one that you could imagine being sung in the company grinning white powder puff wig wearing idiots, a la Amadeus.

Pity is next with a lovely shimmering piano riff and Ms Angele a little more restrained. The album closes oddly with the heartfelt Touch as a Sign which would have been fine. But for some reason they’ve decided to tack on a live version of Pity which adds nothing to the package. It could be to bump up the running time but it would have been more satisfying leave it as an EP.

Monique Angele’s vocals and piano are very high in the mix, which isn’t that much of a surprise but it does tend to grate a bit as there’s some interesting strings in the background that could add a bit more colour to the songs. It dabbles with classical music and pop, but doesn't sit comfortably in either so this is one for broad minded listeners of music in general.