JOELLE, FLORENCE

Paris-born, London-based, singer / songwriter / blues harpist Florence Joelle returns to her musical roots for her second album, Stealing Flowers. Recorded straight to tape on analogue equipment, the album exudes warmth and authenticity, capturing the spirit of classic jazz and blues records from long before the digital era. Bred on jazz at home, and on the music of the Paris streets, the Gypsy art of Django Reinhardt, bal musette, and North African rai, Florence started collecting rocknroll, doo-wop, Latin jazz, and early blues as a girl. Stealing Flowers draws from all these influences, carving out a unique sound that, although deeply rooted in the past, vibrates in the present. A twee retro-singer she is not, though. Ever socially conscious, her songs depict what happens around her. The gritty 29 Bus Blues tells of an assault witnessed on a London night bus, while How Many Chickens Are You Missing Today?, a protest song composed on behalf of the thousands of Roma brutally and illegally expelled from France in 2010, was recently included on an compilation by Amnesty International. Featuring, as on the first album, percussionist and drummer Arthur Lager (cin auteur of notoriety and a former member of Gallon Drunk and the Scientists), bassist / guitarist Chris Campion (also a producer and film director), the line up now boasts instrumentalist Paul Seacroft (Prince Buster via Joe Ely through to members of Dolly Mixture, the Polecats, the Specials , the Beat and beyond), whose lead guitar and great lap / pedal steel tone bring a whole new dimension to the sound, and blues guitarist Matt Jackson (Paul Ansells Number Nine) on snare drum. The album's cover photo takes the analogue theme further with an image shot by photographic artist Jayne Taylor using old film stock and a vintage Hasselblad camera. Despite its title, nothing is lifted on Stealing Flowers.