A piece of my heart

A piece of my heart

Just a year after their “Lazy Sunday afternoon” gripped fans of minimalist jazz and Latin lounge music, the German duo Bettina Mischke and Roland Grosch return with their second album “A piece of my heart” on Blue Flame Records. Once again, this release is a near-perfect blend of electronica, nu bossa nova guitars and the peerless voice of Mischke. With echoes of Portishead’s Beth Gibbons, the singer chooses to concentrate her vocal talents in the English language but she is equally at ease in French, Portuguese and, of course, her native German. In contrast to the first album, most of the 14 songs are not covers but original compositions that recount stories of sleepy, sensuous love and betrayed passion. The result is melodic without being too tonal and, though this is skin-deep music, its rhythms make for pleasant and uplifting listening.
The Jazzamor concept began in 2001, but already the band’s sound games have penetrated the closed circles of minimalist electronica music. Occasionally, the duo lapse into corny lyrics or limited arrangements (“No evil in mind”, “Sunday”) but, by and large, the soaring voice of Mischke and smooth keyboard playing of Grosch carry the day. And in the opening track “Tonight”, the vocalist haunts us with lyrics that could have illustrated the film “Monster” which recounts the story of Aileen Wuornos, America’s first woman serial killer whose ‘exploits’ are currently onscreen in cinemas around the world.

Daniel Brown