Time flies, I can't believe it was as long as April when Ren Harvieu first showed up here, it's been pretty quiet from Ren since (mainly due a spinal injury) but she's now back on track and we've been treated to a couple of tracks to accompany the stunning cover of Roy Orbison's "Cryin'", the song which first alerted me to her.
The latest is "Forever in Blue" and it's good enough to transport you back in time some fifty years, displaying a lonesome vulnerability and poignancy that defy her age of twenty years, what grabs you immediately (even if you're not into this "namby pamby" stuff and prefer your music loud) is Ren's soulful vocals, her rich and smooth voice caresses each and every word, it's exquisite, gentle, understated and undeniably beautiful.
Ren's debut single will be "Through The Night", due for release via Island Records on January 16th 2012, a sublime melodramatic ballad soaked in gorgeous string orchestration and, of course, Ren's voice, big, strong and effortless whether it delivering sensual or powerful notes.
I'm sometime critical of The Guardian and their new music blog (I don't see the point in doing a new band feature on something and slating it or giving this sort of thing exposure) but they got it spot on in their recent 'New band of the day' feature on Ren where they compare her to "the mid-60s era of those solo artists with single names like Dusty, Lulu, Cilla and Sandie and the sort of epic tunes they would have blasted out on Sunday Night at the London Palladium or during a royal command performance". Can you imagine if she was on X Factor singing Dusty Springfield songs, they'd be going mental at women institute coffee mornings all over the country, I'm glad she's not, a more conventional path to stardom should suit the longevity of her career.
Your chance to see Ren playing a pub for possibly the first and last time comes on Thursday 24th October when she plays London's Water Rats (details).
Listen:
Through The Night by Ren Harvieu
Forever In Blue by Ren Harvieu
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