Cool school alumnus Chris Connor has found a welcome home at HighNote. As evidenced throughout her third release for the label, Everything I Love, she remains a faint echo of her former dynamic self. But Connor was never about showing off a powerful range or practicing vocal calisthenics, excelling instead at subtle nuance and gentle persuasion. Which is why, diminished as her vocal capacity may be, she’s still better than most at selling lyrics that demand a lifetime of experiences both bitter and sweet. She manages the mistily nostalgic “Sentimental Journey” and contentedly reflective “I’ll Remember April” with ease (though brings nothing particularly new to either trip down memory lane). Better is the venomous bite of her “Cry Me a River” and the pained emptiness of “That Old Feeling.” Best is her reckless negotiation of the dark corners of “I’m a Fool to Want You.”
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