OK, so it's actually been about two months since I've posted an album of the week, better late than never I guess. I used to be a big Diana Krall fan, but for some reason I haven't had much desire to listen to her recent albums. That includes this one which has been out for a couple years. For some reason I decided to look at what she was up to now and found out she had married Elvis Costello and that they had collaborated on this album. That captured my interest so I had to check it out. Upon first listen I was hooked by Diana's rendition of Tom Wait's Temptation, but the rest of the songs weren't really jumping out at me. I stuck with it though and after a couple more listens I really started to feel the album. This has been a controversial album among Diana's fans because it's not based on Jazz standards and some of the songs are definitely less jazzy than others. The criticisms are valid I suppose, if you expect her to keep putting out the same album every time, but this album is different. The Jazz is still there, but some of the less jazzy songs just have a feeling to them that takes a little while to penetrate and grab hold. The song Departure Bay in particular caught my attention while it was playing in the background and with that I realized the beauty of this album. Normally I'm drawn more to muscianship, but on this album it's her vocals that keep pulling me in. Especially on songs like Depature Bay, The Girl in the Other Room and Tempatation. All great songs on a truly great album.