Trying to pigeonhole this British songstress is a little like trying to capture a runaway stream of mercury -- dub her a soul singer, and she goes off on a jazz tangent; decide she's a balladeer, and she'll belt out a brassy party-starter. That fluidity is mighty impressive, but it wouldn't mean a thing if Ms. Bailey Rae didn't have the staggering amount of swing that she imparts to the tunes on this, her acclaimed debut. "Put Your Records On," a bright and breezy celebration of music -- making it, listening to it, letting it creep into all parts of one's life -- is a pretty good indication of where the singer-songwriter is coming from, with its slowly percolating grooves and warm, inviting vocals. Rae's supple voice slips sensually through the verses of invitingly intimate tracks like the disc-opening "Like a Star" and burrows into the darker recesses of " 'Till It Happens to You" -- a track that reveals her familiarity with the classic works of Billie Holiday -- using her husky lower register to plow through the heavy emotional terrain. She certainly knows her way around that territory, but she also knows enough about it to recognize that listeners are generally more content to walk the sunnier side of the street -- and that's exactly where she takes them on songs like the beckoning "Call Me when You Get This," a track that finds her cozying up in a light blanket of meticulously arranged brass and reeds. She's been likened to singers as varied as Norah Jones and Sade -- and while those analogies make some sense on first listen, it doesn't take long to realize that Corinne Bailey Rae is a unique talent who merits a category all to herself. TRACK LISTINGS Disc 1 1 Like a Star 4:03 2 Enchantment 3:57 3 Put Your Records On 3:35 4 Till It Happens to You 4:38 5 Trouble Sleeping 3:28 6 Call Me When You Get This 5:04 7 Choux Pastry Heart 3:57 8 Breathless 4:15 9 I'd Like To 4:08 10 Butterfly 3:53 11 Seasons Change 4:55 Disc 2 1 Since I've Been Loving You 4:25 2 Emeraldine 4:34 3 Munich 3:59 4 Venus as a Boy 3:02 5 Another Rainy Day 3:17 6 Daydreaming 3:57 7 Enchantment Amp Fiddler Remix 3:24 8 I'd Like To Weekender Mix 3:30
