This is the fourth album from the multilingual retro band from Portland, Oregon.
Here the 13-member group has an orchestral accompaniment. Funky bass, a sitar and even a barbershop quartet make appearances.
The horror of much “easy listening” is taking popular songs and blanding out any passion. But Pink Martini take easy listening favourites and give them a bit of life.
Their music reminds us how the orchestras of the 1950s and 1960s blended music from a range of sources – notably Latin.
“Oú est ma tête” is a cha cha in French, while the track “Splendor In The Grass” features the Dandy Warhols’ guitarist and the theme from a Tchaikovsky’s Piano Concerto.
The album actually reins in the variety of their previous Hey Eugene, but nevertheless it remains witty and inventive throughout.
Splendor in the Grass
Pink Martini
Wrasse Records