Cine-Magique

Album Review

It seems odd that Lily Frost has flown so completely under the radar when so many of her Canadian contemporaries have made some measure of a splash under the 49th parallel. 2006's Ciné-Magique is yet another wonderfully entertaining blend of jazzy ballads, twee pop tunes, French pop à la France Gall's '60s hits, subtle electronic influences and more. Opening with the smashing "You've Shaken Every Part of Me," a ballad for Frost's gorgeous, smoky voice and a woody-toned guitar part in the style of Julie London's '50s hits, leavened just slightly with a bracing flight of gorgeous overdubbed girl group harmonies at the very end that's perhaps Frost's single finest song, Ciné-Magique moves from strength to strength. The playful, Nellie McKay-like "Enchantment" rushes through the wordy verses to a delightful, yearning chorus, while the French-language "Je Revendrai" is the echoey, reverb-filled meeting point between Nico and Julee Cruise's dream pop masterpiece Floating into the Night. There is not a single dog on this varied, expressive and maddeningly tuneful album, and anyone with a taste for McKay, Regina Spektor, Emiliana Torrini or Sylvie Lewis will find a new favorite chanteuse here.