Worldwide mix

(Morning Star, Friday 01 June 2007)

ALBUM: Pink Martini - Hey Eugene
(Wrasse Records)

I HAD a pink martini once. It was a bit sickly and, frankly, made the morning after a real gut-wrencher.

But what this Pink Martini promise is less nauseating morning-after regret and more fizzy exuberance and chilled rhythms.

From the outset, frontwoman China Forbes marks herself out as a chameleon, channelling old-school Hollywood Garland glamour on Everywhere before diving headfirst into the sultry Latin rhythms of Tempo Perdido.

In fact, it's changeable throughout. Pink Martini go for full-on salsa from roasting hot Rio on the one hand, being instantly substituted with influences that any world music aficionado would embrace on the other.

For example, the sweet Japanese-language Taya Tan, or the frankly astonishing Bollywood-inspired Arabic language Bukra Wba'do.

If all this sounds like a bit of a mix, it is, but in the best way.

Forbes's astonishing voice guides the shyest of music fans through the most cathartic of musical landscapes and with vigor and class in equal measure.

Pink Martini may take their name from an alcoholic assault weapon, but the aftershock of Hey Eugene is given to freshness and clarity.