MCA
1996
Slow To Burn
About This Album
Vanessa Daou moves somewhat away from the intense eroticism of Zipless on her second album, but it is a no less seductive or steamily crepuscular effort. Each of Slow to Burn's 11 songs pays homage to an influential female artisan, from musicians (Billie Holiday) to artists and poets (Gertrude Stein, Frida Kahlo) to actresses and dancers (Greta Garbo, Josephine Baker), whose life exemplifies complete liberation, artistic or otherwise. Peter Daou's music again grooves with a jazz edge -- keyboards and cymbals abound, with warm, creamy basslines and dance rhythms that are unusually suggestive rather than rampant -- but also moves from brooding to meditative, often within the same song. Rather than dancefloor fodder, the music seems as if it would be more at home in an after-hours club where movement is a narcotized haze. Peter Daou's playing and arrangements are impeccable and precise but can also have a haunting quality. In addition to the pervasive jazz influence, elements of gospel, R&B, dance, electronica, and even slight hints of Latin music enter the songs. "Evening" is like a long, slow drag on a cigarette, sexy and gorgeous with the underlying sense of hazard that is likely to be regretted the next morning, and many of the other songs share that sensuality.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,4,6,8,9 and 11)

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