QNotes, August 20, 2021

a&e
Barbra Streisand’s ‘Release Me 2’
and Morly’s ‘Til I Start Speaking’
Streisand’s Collection of Previously Unreleased Material is Now Available
by Gregg Shapiro
Contributing Writer
With the arrival of her new album,
Release Me 2 (Columbia,
available on LP, CD and MP3), the compilation
follow-up to 2012’s Release Me,
comprised of previously unreleased
material, Barbra Streisand has entered
hipster territory by including the vinyl
version. Of course, the question remains
how many of Barbra’s devoted alter
kocker fans have made the return trip to
the world of turntables (let alone downloading
and streaming music), along
with the so-called “younger generation.”
Nevertheless, Streisand and Columbia
Records, her home for nearly 63 years,
deserve kudos for making the effort.
Streisand, who has long been an
outspoken activist and voice for social
causes, opens Release Me with “Be
Aware,” a Burt Bacharach/Hal David
chestnut that was also recorded by the
late queer singer/songwriter Laura Nyro.
The song, recorded in 1971, deals with
the subjects of homeless children and
world hunger, proving that the more
things change, the more they stay the
same. Barbra Joan Streisand, her second
album of 1971, featured three Carole
King compositions — “Where You Lead,”
“Beautiful,” and “You’ve Got A Friend,”
so it’s not surprising to learn that she
recorded another King tune, “You Light
Up My Life” (no, not THAT “You Light Up
My Life”), in 1974.
A pair of duets, “Rainbow
Connection” with Kermit the Frog,
from 1979, and “I’d Want It To Be You”
with Willie Nelson, from 2014, prove
that Barbra plays well with others. Her
1971 cover of Randy Newman’s “Living
Without You” may lack the oomph of versions
by Kelly Hogan and Nilsson, but it’s
still pleasant. Arlen and Harburg’s “Right
As The Rain,” from 1962, serves as a
reminder of the spell early Streisand was
able to cast on listeners.
After releasing three EPs from 2015
to 2017, singer/songwriter and visual
artist, Morly, a.k.a. Katy Morley, returns
with her full-length debut LP, “‘Til I Start
Speaking” (Cascine), after having battled
chronic illness. The immediate impressions
one gets from these 10 songs is of their
timelessness and beauty. The borderline
retro arrangements on songs such as
“Wasted,” complete with soulful backing
vocals, “Sleeping in My Own Bed,” from
her 2017 EP of the same name, “Twaine
Harte,” “Up Above,” “Jazz Angel (Bill)” and
“Superlunar” are nothing less than exquisite.
Additionally, the visual component to
the LP, the 12-page lyric book, features
Morly’s artwork, which is breathtaking to
behold. Don’t hesitate to add this striking
album, which is reminiscent of early Feist,
to your record collection.
As for Streisand, if she wants to
continue her stay in the hipster haven of
Vinylville, she might consider covering a
Morly tune, such as “Sleeping in My Own
Bed,” on her next studio album.
Stranger things have happened. : :
16 qnotes Aug. 20-Sept. 2, 2021