☭ marselip0910 叶俊华™

Whatever sleek and slinky chanteuse qualities Canadian singer/songwriter Jill Barber might have been harboring over the course of her acclaimed musical output so far have been brought to center stage with the release of her album Mischievous Moon a couple of weeks ago (CD Canada only, available stateside digitally).

After three fine folk/pop albums that flirted now and then with jazz and retro adult pop, Barber makes her Moon a heavenly slice of swooning melodies and a production so lush it's like thick velvet (or is that velveteen?). If Duffy's waiting in the bar, Barber's already in the penthouse. For proof, look no further than "Tell Me" -- a song that not only emulates a glossy James Bond theme -- it even has a kitschy 007-styled video to go with it. The whole thing was shot on location, as they say, in Buenes Aires -- how perfect.