She Talks in Maths: Interpretations of Radiohead

ELIZA LUMLEY

It is not yet a matter of record whether, way back in 1992, Radiohead had any idea that they would go on to become the most important band of their generation, nor, increasingly, one of the most radically reinterpreted. Last year, a collection of Jamaican artists called Easy Star All-Stars gave a reggae lilt to the Oxford act's paeans to existential angst with Radiodread: A Tribute To OK Computer, while Mark Ronson turned their 1995 single "Just" into a slice of hyperactive funk. And now comes Eliza Lumley, a former choral singer, to give them, of all things, the cocktail-jazz treatment.

She Talks in Maths: Interpretations of Radiohead is a very Fortnum & Mason kind of record: rarefied, elegant and wrapped up in mink. Oddly, it works. Released online last autumn, it topped the iTunes jazz charts and has now secured a physical release. "Singing the words of Thom Yorke is like singing TS Eliot," says Lumley. "There is something about the quality of his songs that, even broken down to their barest essentials, still sound impossibly strong."

A well-bred 31-year-old with hot-chocolate eyes and cheekbones you could slice ham on, Lumley studied theology and philosophy at Cambridge University, and sang in its choir, before spending much of her twenties acting on stage – Mamma Mia in London's West End, Tom Stoppard's Jumpers on Broadway – but felt inexorably drawn back to song. "I've done versions of Coldplay and Echo & the Bunnymen as well," she says, "but it was Radiohead that lent themselves most naturally to the form.

She Talks in Maths: Interpretations of Radiohead

Track Listing :

1 High and Dry
2 Black Star
3 Street Spirit
4 Let Down
5 No Surprises
6 Karma Police
7 Lucky
8 How to Disappear Completely
9 Creep
10 Bullet Proof.. I Wish I Was

Bernadette Seacrest - No Body's Cryn'

Critics’ Pick
Best Vocalist: Bernadette Seacrest

Not since Francine Reed settled here 25 years ago has a singer new to the Atlanta scene made such an indelible first impression as BERNADETTE SEACREST. The irony is that the jazz chanteuse is more popular in Europe than in her adopted city, but don’t expect that to last long. Seacrest sings torch songs with a fragile and haunting voice that is Billie Holiday cross-pollinated with Madeleine Peyroux. Both members of her two-piece band are alumni of Col. Bruce Hampton — former Aquarium Rescue Unit guitarist Charlie Williams and current Quark Alliance bassist Chris Dale. Seacrest, who moved to Atlanta from Albuquerque in 2006, didn’t even take up singing until six years ago. Catch her now before Atlanta finally discovers her. You’ll be struck first by her tattoos, then you’ll be captivated by her voice.

Bernadette Seacrest - Nobody's Cryin'

I’m fightin’ my tears, tooth and nail
Perched on this stool, all by myself
The love I lost is not even cold
Why can’t a woman be left all alone

Cause nobody here’s cryin’
I don’t mean to sound unkind
But save your sympathy
For someone who’s in need
Cause nobody here’s cryin’

You bring me a drink with a smile in your eye
Pull up a stool but that’s all it buys
I’m afraid I’m not gonna be good company
But try if you like you’re not leavin’ here with me

Cause nobody here’s cryin’
I don’t mean to sound unkind
But save your sympathy
For someone who’s in need
Cause nobody here’s cryin’

You ask me if you could be any help
I’m wounded and cornered you better watch yourself
I fell so hard the last time around
A few more drinks and I’m probably gonna drown

Cause nobody here’s cryin’
I don’t mean to sound unkind
But save your sympathy
For someone who’s in need
Cause nobody here’s cryin’