The English singer-songwriter Rumer is making her own thing out of classic 70s pop. It’s earned her admiration from Burt Bacharach and Richard Carpenter, who wrote her a fan letter. I’m far from the first to have heard strong shadings of his late sister Karen in her gorgeous voice. I’d not heard of Rumer until I saw a review of her newest, Nashville Tears, The Songs of Hugh Prestwood, and with the strong local angle I had a listen. It’s not my usual fare, but it’s giving me deeply serene vibes at an addled time.
I love songbook style albums as a vehicle for great singers, and Prestwood, who wrote Alison Krauss’s big “Ghost In This House” and Trisha Yearwood’s “The Song Remembers When,” is a master worthy of deeper listens. Rumer’s already done a Bacharach album, and Nashville hall of famer Prestwood offers that kind of seriousness and variety for a singer, and Rumer, given name Sarah Joyce, interprets with freedom and sweet, sweet tone. The Nashville string work is classic and world class. Check out this Music City project with many moods, all of them elegant.