Last Call, Low Light

Tracks

1. 1. Mute in the Back PocketI wanted to open with something small and found, a little rubber mute in a coat pocket. It tells you everything about how I sing: close, and with a little hope in it.torch song, supper-club4:55
2. 2. Letters I Didn't SendEverybody has a shoebox of things they never said. I sang this one as though the box was still on my knee.torch song, late-night3:31
3. 3. The Last Dance CardA dance card is such a small piece of paper to hold so many evenings. I kept the piano barely above a whisper for it.supper-club, nostalgic ballad3:55
4. 4. Lipstick on the Last Set ListThe most private thing I've ever admitted on a record, a kiss pressed to a set list. We got it on the first take and never tried again.torch song, cabaret4:38
5. 5. What the Piano Bench RemembersChurch-hall piano taught me that a bench remembers everyone who ever sat on it. This is my thank-you to all of them.church-hall piano, torch song4:53
6. 6. The Piano Wire LullabyMy mother hummed a tune she never named, and I've been trying to name it ever since. This is as close as I've come.lullaby, parlour ballad4:04
7. 7. The Hat Check at the Blue Lagoon RoomA real room that really closed, with the velvet drawn. I sang it with my coat already on.supper-club, nostalgic ballad4:24
8. 8. Streetlamp Waltz for the MilkmanFour in the morning, the milkman's bottles ringing, and the only waltz left in town. Night-shift people have always known this hour best.waltz, late-night3:06
9. 9. The Blue Door on Cardigan RowA blue door worn thin by the hands that knock on it. I like a song that feels like being let in.parlour ballad, cosy jazz4:04
10. 10. Telegram from the CoastThere was a time when news came in a little yellow envelope and you read it standing in your doorway. I closed the first record on that feeling, tender and a bit afraid.chanson-tinged, torch song4:11