Mssr_Renard
Working backwards through the discography of an artist or a band is not always the right thing to do, because sometimes the quality of songwriting, music, performance and/or production can diminish.
But in the case of Sarah Elizabeth Charles it does not really matter in wich order you discover her albums, they are all of very high standard.
On Inner Dialogue the use of electronics is at a minimum and the emphasis here is on the use of analogue instruments. The music and vocal acrobatics remind me here a bit of Zap Mama, wich is huge compliment.
Sarah uses a lot of multritracking for her vocals and voices, while the band (Scope) uses mostly analogue and acoustic instruments (piano, double bass, drums, electric piano and some sparse synths). Christian Scott aTunde guests on trumpet.
Mostly the music can be described as World Fusion, and the lyrics are in different languages (english and french). Sarah is of Haitian heritage and tries to incoporate lots of Haitian folk in the music, aswell as (soft-)jazz, pop and fusion. The voice of Sarah is a bit reminiscent of Sade and Marie Daulné of Zap Mama.
A very enjoyable album, with a very warm sound and beautiful melodies.