When a British pop artist does an album of Latin rhythms, my heart sinks a bit. There's an element of forced gaiety about it, a hint of student party-time. Arch songwriter and collaborator with everyone from The Pogues to Johnny Marr, Kirsty MacColl has just released Tropical Brainstorm, an album of "Anglo-Latin pop" that was inspired by frequent trips to Cuba and Brazil over the past five years.
At Dingwalls a relaxed, composed MacColl gives it an airing, accompanied by a seven-piece band that includes her main collaborator Pete Glenister on guitar, plus upright bass, congas and a full-on horn section.
Her opener, US Amazonians, is a brash, promising mix of Irish jig and manic Brazilian beats, but this is followed by the more whimsical Here Comes That Man Again (a song about a naughty, anonymous Dutchman on the internet) and Celestine (a flippant ditty about MacColl's "French pop tart" alter ego). The crowd jiggle along patiently. The Latin influence sounds like pastiche, and she's more Victoria Wood at an Ann Summers' party than urban poetess. The fiery horns and percussion work better on England 2 Columbia 0, an edgy take on failed romance where MacColl sings salty, succinct lines like: "You forgot you had three children, you forgot you had a wife".
MacColl is most effective when she lets go of the laid-back, winsome delivery and injects biting passion into those honey-sweet tones. This is evident on the funky Walking Down Madison, the 1991 hit she recorded with Johnny Marr, and on Days, which tonight sounds fulsome and poignant.
MacColl is one of the few artists who can sing a cover version and make it stronger than the original. The evening ends on a high note when she performs Billy Bragg's folk-punk classic A New England, and receives a riotous reception. This is the anthem that the crowd has been waiting for. "It's not true that Londoners are frigid, it's a lie," MacColl declares, as she waves to the audience and departs. It wasn't so much the technically proficient Latin rhythms that got them going, but the fire and tension in her unmistakable voice.
***** Unmissable **** Recommended *** Enjoyable ** Mediocre * Terrible
