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, One Rumer we can believe in
By
Rick Pearson
3 Nov 2010
When Burt Bacharach flies you out to California to hear you sing, it’s safe to assume you’re doing something right. That was the honour bestowed on Sarah “Rumer” Joyce, the Anglo-Pakistani singer being likened to a 21st century Karen Carpenter, when the revered songwriter requested the pleasure of her company this year.
Since then, there’s been a performance on Later…with Jools Holland, a cameo with Sir Elton John at the Radio 2 Electric Proms and release of a debut, Seasons of my Soul, to critical acclaim this week.
As a converted church, the Tabernacle provided suitably reverential surroundings in which to hear her hushed, heart-bruised ballads. Backed by a six-piece band (led rather improbably by Steve Brown aka Alan Partridge’s bandleader, Glenn Ponder), she began with the dreamy Come To Me High. Velveteen vocals and tasteful jazz backing wove an enchanting spell; it wouldn’t be broken until she left that stage 45 minutes later.
While her voice is balm, Rumer’s words betray an inner turmoil. Set highlight Aretha, an ode to the Queen of Soul, sounded incredibly uplifting until you pondered its lyrics: “Momma, she’d notice but she’s always crying / I got no one to confide in / Aretha, nobody but you”.
There were other surprises, too. After the piano-led, near-gospel of Healer, the 31-year-old announced that the next song, Blackbird, was “written in a hippy commune I was living in for some time”. Not, perhaps, where one might expect to find the next lounge-star-in-waiting — but the next lounge-star-in-waiting is exactly what Rumer is.
A horn-heavy cover of Stoned Soul Picnic nodded to another influence — Sixties soulstress Laura Nyro — while Bacharach would have approved of her note-perfect take on his classic, Alfie.
This is one Rumer we can believe in.
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