(Nonesuch/Warner Music)

Double-disc retrospective of one Kathryn Dawn Lang

Canadian chanteuse k.d. lang is one of country and easy-listening’s more intriguing performers, combining a handsome, boy-like appearance and the most sensually feminine voice imaginable. Some of her career highlights are compiled on these two CDs and it instantly becomes notable just how many cover versions she has done. This is far from a putdown, as she has the classic showbiz skill to delve into the classic songbook and make the songs her own. Hence, the version of Crying (recorded with its author Roy Orbison) is as heartbreakingly lovely as you could imagine. Not the most predictable double act on paper, she’s a moving, soulful collaborator with Tony Bennett in Moonglow, and the duet with Jane Siberry for Calling All Angels is a true soundtrack album highlight of Wim Wender’s Until The End Of The World. Her tribute to Canadian songwriters Hymns Of The 49th Parallel is well represented with lush versions of Neil Young’s Helpless, Siberry’s The Valley and Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. This collection also proves she’s a more-than-capable songwriter in her own right, with Constant Craving and Miss Chatelaine from her breakthrough Ingenue album now well-deserved MOR classics. Also delving into her soundtrack work (Salmonberries, Even Cowgirls Get The Blues), Recollection is the comp to get if you want the cream of k.d.

***½

MATT THROWER

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