Album Review: Katie Noonan - Songbook

Brisbane's got some serious claims when it comes to producing musical talent, both historically and at this moment in time with gifted young bands fronting up almost every day it seems. While not quite an international household name like, say, Powderfinger, angelic-voiced songstress Katie Noonan has fronted a small handful of these acts over the years and has forged herself a dignified and undeniable place among our very best female vocal powerhouses. It's only natural and inevitable that she sees fit to revisit her catalogue and cast a new light on her personal choices for Songbook.

Taking a retrospective walk among tracks from George, Elixer, her work with The Captains, and her solo output, Noonan has employed a host of symphonic players to accompany her. Some tracks delight in their new setting, while others come off sounding oddly hamstrung by some of the orchestration that, really, should augment them to greater heights, and it's particularly and sadly true of the older hits. For instance, the George inclusions like Special Ones, Breathe In Now and Spawn lack that edgy, feisty attitude they debuted with. But the dramatic strings that haunt Quiet Day and Bluebird fit extremely well beside Katie's piano and pitch-perfect vocal, all the better for now being framed with the reference points of love, marriage and family to call on. There are also five never-before-released songs to dig into.

The liner notes are definitely worth a flick through; here Katie is able to vocalise the reasons why these songs were chosen, their meanings and intents, which are at times used for therapeutic purposes as a way of acknowledging both sad and joyous events in her life.