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At the heart of the matter Sepiachord bands should have some theatrical aspects, some elements of "show". When we go see a band we're hoping to encounter something different than we would find out on the streets. Luna Tart is the logical end product of wanting theatricality in a performer.
You see Luna Tart is a character of Laura Freeman and she was created for the stage, for the show "Luna Tart Died (of a broken heart)". Luna doesn't just ape the cabaret kittens of old, she remolds them into a beautiful (and frequently hilarious) homage. Ms. Tart is everything we'd expect to find in a good (and sleazy) cabaret: she's sexy, teasing one moment and bawdy the next, and she can SING. Her voice is strong and varied on this recording, the variety keeps the listener from getting bored and the richness of her voice is a match for that variety.
Just as you can say "it's the singer, not the song" so we can say "it's the accompaniment, not just the singer". Luna/Laura evokes a wide selection of cabaret/vaudeville sounds and styles on "... Died". Thankfully she's assembled a first tier ensemble to back her up and give these songs the depth they deserve. The arrangements are sharp, when the song is melancholy the instrumentation is little more than piano and upright bass. When Tart froths with energy the whole band kicks into high gear with their rollicking collection of strings (ukulele, guitars, bass), drums, winds (especially the often haunting clarinet) and the keys (piano and accordion!).
When everything is running at high speed Luna's joie de mort boils over and threatens to flood out of the stereo speakers. She toes the line of camp on several occasions, especially when she puts on her faux german accent (which is more Lili von Shtupp than Marlene Dietrich). But the schtick has to be pushed almost to absurdity. It makes the funny bits funnier and provides even deeper contrast for those somber pieces that crop up near the end of the album.
Laura Freedman is channeling the ghost of our imagination on "Luna Tart Died", this is the music hall of the 20's and 30's as it exists in our collective mind's eye. None of us are old enough to have actually been there so the reality we compare this music too is subjective. Perhaps that's why the songs on this collections seem more real than real. They ring with familiarity, they don't steal from older work but they sound as if we've heard them before. They feel like musical old friends that have come calling.
If cosmos has any justice there's another reality where Luna Tart really lived and these songs are American standards.
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Luna Tart:
http://www.myspace.com/lunatart
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