It’s been three years since Melody Gardot spiced up her laid-back jazz vibe with an array of world music influences for 2012’s The Absence. Now, with her fourth album Currency Of Man, the mesmeric singer-songwriter yet again casts out into waters new.
While the socially conscious lyrics – partly inspired by characters Gardot met on the LA streets – tackle emotive topics such as racism, homelessness and disenfranchisement, the music itself genre-hops across everything from deep horn-blasting funk (Same To You, She Don’t Know) to the cinematic string-laden vibes of Don’t Misunderstand and Don’t Talk.
Real highlights include the slide guitar-fuelled strut of Emmett Till tribute Preacherman and the smouldering jazz-blues stew of Bad News. Currency Of Man is an album which boasts both a social conscience and a groove. Ms Gardot fuses the two perfectly.
