Claudia Vorbach: Rainbows Of Your Love

Back in 2002, Norah Jones released her album Come Away with Me, blending acoustic roots music, soft pop and jazz through a singer-songwriter lens. While Jones was not the first to explore this sound, she stamped her identity on it. Claudia Vorbach, a singer-songwriter and jazz vocalist from Tübingen, Germany, follows in this tradition, bringing her own distinctive voice to the genre.

In 2016, Vorbach released her debut album, Come Down Easy, followed by Is There a Time? in 2018 (both on Phonector Records). It took six years before she released another full-length offering, Rainbows of Your Love, in 2024. This gap shows Vorbach's commitment to creating lasting art, releasing music only when necessary.

Rainbows of Your Love was created in the shadow of her husband's death from cancer. Despite this, the album embodies a paradox of joyful sorrow. The title track sets the tone with lines like "I miss the answer of your love" and "death took your body away," supported by bouncy bass rhythms and shimmering Rhodes lines that feel like sunshine on a gray day. One can imagine sitting in a coffee house, listening to jazzy folk pop, when the music quietly reveals layers of longing and sadness, inviting deeper reflection.

The band's communication is tight-knit. Vorbach has long collaborated with drummer Felix Schrack, double bassist Axel Kühn and pianist Martin Sörös. Their relaxed yet tight sound enhances the pop quality of tracks like "Synchronicity" and takes the music in surprising directions with unpredictable fills and a melodic solo from Sörös. At times, the piano trio sound is toned down, giving way to a more skeletal expression with acoustic guitar on songs like "Under This Crooked Tree" and "Doctor Said (Lament Song)," the latter capturing the moment a doctor delivers a terminal diagnosis, with the shock reflected in a long pause.

Throughout the album, Vorbach sings tuneful compositions that are both sunny and sad, defying the stereotypical sorrowful song. Her voice is smoky and bluesy, yet bright and jazzy as she interprets her complex lyrics. She also breaks into scat singing, expressing pure joy. These varied approaches make sense, as music must reflect the complex vista of human emotions. Vorbach captures this on "All Along the Stream." "As every song can take me to another place, I have to open up to give that river space," she sings. Giving the river of emotions space is what makes this album special.

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