Confessions

Amy Winehouse's latest album entitled "Back to black" is a very short one: 11 songs in about half an hour. This half-hour is extremely dense, on many levels: first in terms of music, since this young Jewish singer from North London captured the sound of Motown Records and worked in a short space of time with the likes of Marc Ronson (currently enjoying a clear public success with "Stop Me") to create a very soul yet contemporary feel and atmosphere. Trumpets and bass-guitar, as in "He Can Only Hold Her", convey a rich instrumental accompaniment and congratulate Amy's deep voice. Hers is particularly unique: effortless, adaptable, high- and low-pitched, it narrates and sings autobiographical confessions, about love (and its labour lost), addiction (the last song of the album) and alcohol. Alcohol which is still an issue in "Rehab" and today, since she has cancelled concerts at the Sheperd's Bush Empire, London and one at the Trabendo, Paris. One is drawn into very intimate lyrics: the mastership is such that this (only) second album smacks of a great professional experience. On another level, it is a tour de force, since it was recorded in a few weeks. Voice, music, instruments and engrossing lyrics concur to make a very personal album a shared public success.