Recorded over a series of concerts celebrating the life and work of the late artist Kate McGarrigle, Sing Me The Songs is a fitting homage to the folk music icon.
Featuring the full lineup of the Wainwright family, McGariggle’s own sisters, and other legends including Emmylou Harris and Jimmy Fallon, the album captures the true essence of love, friendship and beauty her legacy left.
All seasoned veterans of the industry, there isn’t a voice on the album that lets anyone else down, and the few who were chosen to sing alongside the surviving Wainrights and McGarrigles are more than deserving of their places.
Always candid about how deeply affected he was by his mother’s passing, Rufus Wainwright is the standout voice of the album, his emotion and adoration clear in each of his soaring highs and heartfelt lows.
His covers of “Kiss And Say Goodbye”, and “First Born”, performed with his sister and aunt are cheerful and fitting tributes to the brilliance of Kate’s work, and no less sincere than his quiet and earnest renditions of “Southern Boys and “Walking Song”.
Almost exclusively made up of songs written by the Canadian singer-songwriter, the stellar ensemble is an apt reminder of the extensive genius that made up Kate’s life work.
Though respectable in its emotion, the album is as much a party is it is a memorial, and is titled well: it truly is a celebration of the life and works of a brilliant artist.
