Sheridan: Sheridan (2017)

Sheridan (2017)

Actors releasing pop albums isn't a new thing; it's often a forgettable thing, but every now and again there's an actual diamond among the dross.

British actress Sheridan Smith's début album is a varied collection of covers that went into bargain bins within a year of release. But don't equate price or the actions of clueless store managers with quality. Being at a reduced price just means that you'll get an even better deal, because the collection is really very good.

Her voice is soaring when needed, but equally good at being soft, playful, fragile and, at best, heartfelt.

There are twelve tracks on offer, beginning with a spirited version of Gnarls Barkley's 'Crazy'; a strong opening to a selection that mixes modern hits with older classics. As if to drive that diversity home as early as possible track two takes us back to the mid 1960s with a Burt Bacharach-penned number that was written for Dionne Warwick but made famous (in Britain, at least) by Cilla Black. The song, 'Anyone Who Had a Heart', is a re-recorded version of one that Sheridan sang in Cilla (2004), a TV miniseries biopic about the Liverpudlian singer (review HERE).

Thereafter things are a mixed bag, but repeated listens have worked their magic upon me and there's only one track that I still skip - on a covers album, that's quite an achievement.

I need to point out that there are times when the performance feels more like emulation than interpretation — as if the actor in Sheridan is taking centre stage, playing a role for a short time before moving onto another — but also that there are tracks that feel like the singer's emotional core is given actual voice, when the veneer peels away and the fragile attachments to our peers and to the past that many of us experience is summoned and tweaked to work a touching enchantment. Willie Mae Thornton's 'I Smell a Rat' is an example of the former; it's the one I often skip. Whereas 'And I Am Telling You I'm Not Going', from the 1981 Broadway musical Dreamgirls, is a sterling example of the latter, closing the album on an emotional ebb.

Likewise, the musicianship is of a high standard but does sometimes lack the crucial spark that band members who've played together for years typically develop. The album can sometimes sound more like the work of a bunch of competent session musicians who were called in to do their thing, then dutifully took their cheque at the end of the day before going home.

The highlights are the softer tracks, including Rufus Wainwright's 'Dinner at Eight', and the sincere-sounding 'For Forever' from Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen. I also liked the laid back version of Delaney and Bonnie Bramlett's 'Superstar', made famous by The Carpenters.

Ultimately, in a world in which people are often mocked and criticised for showing too much emotion, to have someone stand up and not only say what needs to be said but to sing it beautifully is a wonderful thing for the people who can't (or are afraid to) do it themselves. I rarely struggle with such reservations, but it makes my heart glad to know that there are people like Sheridan who'll fly that flag and in doing so speak directly to the quiet souls that need it.