KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Linn Lorkin looks fetching, dolled up in kowhai and paua on the cover of her new album Kiwiana. Inside are a dozen songs, recorded chez Linn, with interruptions ranging from cicadas and coughing fits to religious proselytisers and band members picking up cheques for gigs.
For devotees there's the original 1986 Family at the Beach, with the NZSO behind her, while those summer hols of yore have been stylishly updated in Family Picnic Samba. Auntie Dorrie and Uncle Ken dole out lunch in samba mode here, and Ambrose Splescia's sax is as smooth as homemade mayonnaise.
Although a few rhymes wouldn't pass the Sondheim test ("smart, eh with latte" in her irresistible saunter down K Road), Lorkin is one of our craftiest songwriters.
A diary of a South Island tour swerves from French cafe waltz to tango, to 12/8 rock'n'roll for those half-a-crown nights at the movies in the 50s. A tribute to Tama Renata has the man himself doing a searing solo turn. A delicious album, available at your more discriminating record store or from the artist direct at rouge.co.nz
Verdict: Paua pop ode to the good old days from veteran singer-songwriter
Label: Rouge
