On Broadway, Larsen’s credits have included Rent, Avenue Q and both Xanadu and Zanna Don’t but this is no lazy retread of musical theatre standards. Instead, a diverse collection of pop and easy listening is transformed into something special in MD David Cook’s thoughtful arrangements. It means it’s a more musically intelligent collection than you might initially think and sometimes challenging – ‘Somewhere Out There’, a tribute to lyricist Cynthia Weil who Larsen plays in Beautiful, becomes a noodling free jazz-fest which never quite settles.
Elsewhere, Bruno Mars’ ‘Count On Me’ is infused with a sweet optimism, ‘Sleepy Man’ from musical The Robber Bridegroom swings with a beguiling rhythm and duetting with co-star Jessie Mueller, ‘You Can Close Your Eyes’ is a model of perfect harmonising and vocal restraint. Larsen’s delivery throughout is impressively consistent and free from the riffs and embellishments that mars so much contemporary singing in the name of ‘making a song your own’. Here, Larsen and her band always trust that the music is strong enough and that heartfelt simplicity wins every time.
