by Stewart Mason
Claudine Longet's third album continues the middle-of-the-road tendencies of her first two, leading off with an oddly jaunty reinterpretation of &Falling in Love Again,& Marlene Dietrich's theme song, whose jaded world-weariness Longet replaces with her own pleasantly insubstantial persona. With its cinematic background noise staging and odd ragtime piano accents, it recalls Harpers Bizarre's playful deconstruction of pre-rock standards. More successful are the straightforward bilingual version of the title track, one of the evergreen tunes of '60s easy listening; the oft-recorded Alan Gordon and Gary Bonner sunshine pop tune &Small Talk&; and a mournful, skeletal version of Randy Newman's little-known early tune &Snow& that's among Longet's finest interpretations of her career. Even better is Longet's take on the Bee Gees standard &Holiday&; Longet's endearingly pitch-poor, lispy vocals are tailor-made for this spooky, unconventional song, which arranger Nick DeCaro gives a suitably off-kilter arrangement featuring a chorus of wordless Longets between the strings and the increasingly florid piano accompaniment. Longet's next album, the masterful Colours, would benefit from even more of this gently psychedelic experimentation.