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Solveig Slettahjell

Domestic Songs

ACT 9017-2

Aptly titled both as regards its informal intimacy (her band the Slow Motion Quintet take a back seat on this album, most tracks featuring Solveig Slettahjell accompanying herself on piano) and its subject matter (affairs of the heart, declarations of love, deeply felt versions of Tom Waits's 'Time' and John Lennon's trippy punfest 'Because'), Domestic Songs is the Norwegian singer's most compulsively listenable, irresistibly affecting album to date.

Her subtly insinuating voice is perfectly suited to confessional material such as this, and her plaintive, lilting melodies creep under the listener's skin and stay there. Warmly recommended to anyone who regrets the fact that much contemporary music is too hip to wear its heart on its sleeve; her showcase at St Martin-in-the-Fields (7 December) should be something of a treat.