ethereal voice, well-chosen songs
You know, this guy has never sounded the same since the Pixies broke up.
Oh, my mistake! That's Frank Black, not Frances Black. Frances Black is a chanteuse extraordinaire who provides a wealth of beauty on Talk To Me.
Black knows how to work a song, wringing the emotion from a ballad like "All the Lies That You Told Me" and stepping up the tempo for "Don't Be a Stranger" and "If Love Had Wings."
If her style and voice bring to mind Nanci Griffith, it should. Black is apparently strongly influenced by Griffith, singing four of her songs and using her ethereal voice for backup vocals on several others.
Part of Black's success can be attributed to her song selection. Besides Griffith's works, she also sings selections from John Lennon and Vince Gill. She does not try to do too much with her talent, instead putting it to work in the way she knows will be most effective.