[New Release] Sylvie Simmons

Sylvie Simmons

“Blue on Blue”
Label: Compass Records
Genre: Rock

Respected music journalist Sylvie Simmons’ second album, “Blue On Blue,” is an intimate collection of sweet songs about romance, regret, experience and hope.

With gentle plucks and strums, Simmons — whose biography of Leonard Cohen is an industry standard — sometimes makes her ukulele sound like a diminutive harp, a cozy combination with her gentle, serene voice.

The recording process began in 2017, but an unspecified accident after the initial session left Simmons with broken bones, nerve damage and a severely impaired left hand.

No longer able to play some of the songs she wrote for the album, Simmons had to compose new ones.

Howe Gelb’s production adds details — like supportive guitars, affable basses and chiming bells — that enhance but never overwhelm the singer or the songs, keeping their weary innocence intact.

Her 2014 debut, “Sylvie,” was very well-received not just by her fellow critics but also by her now-fellow musicians. AP