Cristina Quesada

CRISTINA QUESADA 

You Are The One (Elefant)

An odd one this. Queseda is Spanish, but  her feathery little girl whispery voice sounds more like some Gallic 60s pop chanteuse while she not only sings in Spanish (the 60s flavoured Ya No Puedo Mas), but also French (the light and soft disco technopop Faut-Il-Que Je T’Aime, originally by France Gall), Portuguese (the bossa nova flavours of Cante, a revamp of ABBA’s Dance), Italian (the samba swaying Cielo) and even Japanese (an orchestral soul pop rework of Agnes Chan’s 1972 hit Hinageshi No Han). And, of course English. It’s an interesting  mix of covers  that also includes the ukulele accompanied  Just For Fun by Alpaca Sports, the cotton candy My Favourite Boyfriend, a gender rechristening of a song by labelmates Milkyway, a plinkety Hawaiian coloured bontempi pop version of Pineapple Princess, a song immortalised by 60s beach movies queen Annette Funicello, and, opening proceedings, a terrific, strings-laced  reinterpretation of The Jesus & Mary Chain’s Just Like Honey that makes a point of underlining the Be My Baby similarities. There’s also a couple of self-penned tunes, the summery handclappy  60s pop When I’m An Aeroplane and the album closing title track, an almost festive waltzer that tips the hat to Burt Bacharach. As I say, an oddity, but a disarmingly enjoyable one. Mike Davies