Review
Sony Music (UK release 5 September 2011)
Screen superstar and vocal phenomenon Doris Day is releasing My Heart; her first album in seventeen years. What’s more, the album is not a collection of old material. It promises new songs, some co-written by Day’s late son Terry Melcher before he died from melanoma in 2004, alongside some new recordings and a few old favourites thrown into the mix. The new recordings were made and produced by Melcher before his death, but were previously unreleased.
What strikes you most of all is that Day has managed to maintain a great voice throughout the decades, and still performs with a playful panache. Indeed, it is difficult to distinguish the new recordings from the archive material. There is a definite sense of carefree fun that stops the more established numbers from being too kitsch. But while Day sings in her cheery and lilting style, you can feel a real sense of emotion in her voice, from poignancy to joy, which makes for captivating listening.
The album’s new songs are a pleasant surprise. All are written with a definite nod to the swing and easy listening style of Day’s prime, but still manage to feel fresh and – more importantly – catchy. ‘Heaven Tonight’, the first single to be released from the album, is by far the most outstanding track on the album; cheeky, sincere, uplifting, and memorable.
But what lets the album down are the old songs. Some numbers, such as Day’s classic performance of ‘My One And Only Love’ with the André Previn Trio, though having the wonderful polish and rich tones of her singing, feel a little antiquated and nostalgic, lacking the energy behind the newer material. Some of the new recordings are also disappointingly uninspired, such as the cover of ‘You Are So Beautiful’, which is laid back and gentle, but doesn’t really bring anything new to the classic hit.
The latter part of the album also takes a very personal turn. She dedicates the recording of ‘My Buddy’, famously taken from the film, I’ll See You in My Dreams, to Melcher, followed by a recording of him singing ‘Happy Endings’. While the album makes no qualms about just how personal an affair this is for Day, some might find it a little too maudlin, especially with a touching spoken introduction to ‘Happy Endings’. The sincerity is genuinely heartfelt, but it’s a bit of a sombre ending that doesn’t sit comfortably against the mostly bright jollity of what precedes it.
Overall, it’s a sweet album that could be the perfect thing to listen to on a lazy Sunday afternoon, or just to relax with. While the more recent recordings of old songs don’t match up to the new numbers, Day fans will no doubt lap them up as evidence that the veteran performer still has a really superb voice.
My Heart is set for release on 5 September 2011. You can pre-order it on Amazon.co.uk.
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