Rating:
Genre:
Folk
Release Date: 01/10/2006
Muriel Anderson is at heart a
singer/songwriter in the grand
folk-pop tradition that's existed at least since the days of
the Weavers, but her music is also woven through with
Brazilian jazz influences in the manner of
Baden Powell or
Joćo Gilberto. It's a unique, playful sound that gives
Wildcat a jazzy swing that's far too often missing from this kind of record. Even overtly
country-oriented material like the delicate
ballad "St. Louis Waltz," which features a very nice
Floyd Cramer-like piano part, has the same sort of syncopated drive as neo-
bossa nova tunes like
"Rio de Janeiro" and the title track. The handful of less rhythmic songs, like the lovely
"I'll Never Sing Another Song (Tokyo Lullaby)," are put across through the beauty of
Anderson's unostentatious vocal style and her equally graceful guitar playing. The album as a whole might be too gentle and kittenish to live up to the promise of the title, but it's a small, intimate delight anyway.
~Stewart Mason, All Music Guide