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"It's, as I say, a desire to affirm my faith
in life, not in some formal religious way but
with enthusiasm, with emotion.... It's a
rather joyous song." ~ Leonard Cohen, creator
of the song, Hallelujah. He says: "I wanted
to write something in the tradition of the
hallelujah choruses but from a different
point of view... It's the notion that there
is no perfection ~ that this is a broken
world and we live with broken hearts and
broken lives but still that is no alibi for
anything. On the contrary, you have to stand
up and say hallelujah under those
circumstances."
Canadian indie singer-songwriter Allison
Crowe's uniquely potent interpretation is
heard on her album, "Tidings".
(The song enjoys increasingly wide
appreciation - even marching into the
mainstream in 2008 with a tv performance by
American Idol contestant Jason Castro and by
UK X Factor winner Alexandra Burke. Leonard
Cohen himself has been inspiring audiences on
tour this year - he performed Hallelujah as
the sun set on Glastonbury 2008.)
"It's not hard to see why Crowe's Hallelujah
-- recorded in a single take -- is popular.
It's one of Leonard Cohen's most affecting
songs, and the 26-year-old, accompanying
herself on piano, makes it her own with raw
honesty and formidable vocal power. It's
simultaneously heart-breaking and redemptive,
and it has captured the imaginations of
people around the world. 'The song itself is
just so emotionally resonant,' Crowe said
modestly this week." ~ Adrian Chamberlain,
Times Colonist (Canada)
"Bet you thought you heard all the versions
you need to hear of this song, right? Think
again, because Allison Crowe has a voice to
fall in love with. She is from Vancouver
Island in Canada, descended from Scottish,
Irish, and Manx stock. She's exactly the sort
of artist who can make serious headway on her
own label and that's just what she's doing."
~ Record of the Day (UK)
"Hallelujah, by Leonard Cohen. This song has
somehow become Crowe's signature, if a singer
who defies description as stubbornly as she
does has a signature... Cohen's original
version is a spoken poem, all of the meaning
contained in the words. Crowe's version is a
living thing, a meditation and a celebration
and a benediction." ~ anacronym (Canada)
"Crowe's warm, natural, passionate - and need
I add lovely? - voice are perhaps shown to
best effect on another glorious standard,
Leonard Cohen's magnificent and deeply
spiritual quest for faith, Hallelujah." ~
Martin Levin, Women's Post (Canada)
"j'ai rarement été bouleversée à ce point
par une voix féminine. Pure comme de la
glace, puissante et même violente sur la
reprise de l'Hallelujah de Leonard Cohen."
(en Francais - English translation follows)
"I have never been so moved by a woman's
voice. Pure as ice, powerful and even violent
on the cover of Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah."
~ SplinterMuse (France)
"(Jeff) Buckley especially just blew the song
to pieces and every artist after him has
tried and failed to put it back together.
Until now. Allison Crowe manages to pump
'Hallelujah' full of all the soaring vocals
and raw emotion that it requires. And the
result is a big beautiful lump in the
throat." ~ Muruch (USA) blog praises the
Buckley and Crowe versions as very different,
each great in its own way
Allison's hometown covers the whole of Canada
- from Nanaimo, Vancouver Island to Corner
Brook, Newfoundland. It's a land rich with
songs of glory, joy and rare, natural,
beauty.
Tags : Allison Crowe chanson piano voice rock folk singer songwriter acoustic music hometown glory Canada live Hallelujah Leonard Cohen Factor John Cale Jeff Buckley Rufus Wainwright Jason Castro Glastonbury Alexandra Burke Popa Chubby |
