Sidsel Storm: Swedish Lullaby

Sidsel Storm belongs to the cream of the crop of new Danish female jazz singers, including names such as Sinne Eeg and Malene Mortensen. Since releasing her self- titled debut in 2008, Storm has made herself a solid name on the Danish jazz scene and Swedish Lullaby, her second effort, suggests she's ready for worldwide attention.

Swedish Lullaby shows a singer who has matured surprisingly fast. Storm's voice shines with a wide palette that leaves room for both sensual easiness and a mellowness and depth that fits the restrained pain of the lyrics in a song like "Stolen Years" with the chorus: "Trust is replaced by fear, / And around every corner / Are stolen years."

Clearly, Storm isn't afraid to delve deep inside the darker shades of a song, and as lyricist, she avoids shallowness and clichés, sticking instead to a simple, poetic language that gives plenty of possibilities for her inventive phrasing.

Besides eight originals, there's also room for two standards and especially Mercer and Mandel's "Emily" which receives a fresh reading with bassist Jesper Thorn playing a thoughtful intro before Storm wraps her voice around the melody and caresses it until drummer Morten Lund and pianist Lars Jansson steps in and makes the tune swing like a joyful carousel.

Throughout, the album sports inventive arrangements with subtle use of strings and the lonely murmur of a hazy trumpet, but it is the chamber-like format of vocal, bass, piano, and drums that lies at the heart of the session which comes across as a quiet revelation.

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