Kat Edmonson - Old Fashioned Gal (2018) [Blu-spec CD2]

Old Fashioned Gal, the title of Kat Edmonson's fourth record, certainly describes the singer. Edmonson doesn't truck with modern styles, whether they're musical or technological, but that doesn't mean she's stuck in the past. She's working an older style -- one that's rooted in the first half of the 20th century -- but she's adding to tradition by writing a set of original songs that blend modern lyrical sensibilities with the style of the Great American Songbook. It's a sly, subtle accent on a record that could be mistaken for an old-fashioned LP -- the music and the arrangements are intimate, yet lush; the tempo is never hurried, which gives Edmonson plenty of time to luxuriate in her melodies -- and that helps give this cabaret music an air of welcome freshness. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine