Barb Jungr is an intense and dramatic singer who learned her trade in the alternative cabaret circuit and is equally at home with blues, soul and Iranian folk song. Her new CD, which marks a step-up to the prestigious Linn label, includes fresh English translations of works by the relatively well-known Jacques Brel but also two songs by Léo Ferré, a fiercely radical writer who has previously been overlooked on this side of the Channel. Jungr expertly establishes the mood and the meaning of each song, ably assisted by such musicians as Kim Burton (accordion), Julie Walkington (double bass) and pianist Simon Wallace whose arrangements enhance the singing and the lyrics.

Among the translators of French songs on Jungr's album is Des de Moor. His Water of Europe also has version of foreign writers (Brecht as well as Brel) but it contains several original songs -- among them Last Orders Please, a salsa about death, where de Moor shows himself to be a talented practitioner of the chanson genre.

Dave Laing