Album Review: The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini - The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini

Hers is an unmistakable voice. Theirs is a unique take on the use of instruments both traditional and self-made. Together, they have created a record that seats the listener in the front row, watching in awe.

Emiliana Torrini's career has been a slow burn. Despite high peaks like 2004's Sunny Road and 2008's excellent Jungle Drum, not to mention being the co-writer and co-producer of Kylie Minogue's Slow, the Icelandic chanteuse is far from a household name.

Here she teams up with Belgian collective The Colorist, a backing band with a successful and unorthodox history of teaming up with some of the world's most memorable vocalists like Cibelle (Brazil) and Sumie Nagano (Sweden) to perform and record each singer's songs. They use a hotchpotch of instruments, including some that the band members themselves created, to reinterpret the original songs and present them in a truly unique way.

Over this record, nine of Torrini's songs (including the aforementioned Jungle Drum) are brought to life in a way never before heard, with two new tracks thrown in for good measure. It was recorded live in response to the fantastic reception The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini received during a run of 2015 European shows, but the audio is so precisely recorded that it almost feels like the applause at the end of most tracks has been added in post-production.

The Colorist & Emiliana Torrini is a fascinating, captivating record, one that may challenge but that also comes with a huge pay-off.