Ballads (Liane Carroll album)

Reception

The album received four-starred reviews in The Observer, The Guardian, the London Evening Standard and LondonJazz. In The Guardian, John Fordham noted that Carroll's subtle pitching, tone colouration and jazz improviser's timing reinvent 'Here's to Life' as a distilled understatement with only acoustic guitar, and that her earthiness is complemented by soft strings on 'Goodbye', while 'Mad About the Boy' is performed slowly, almost prayer-like. Peter Quinn of Jazzwise Magazine wrote that Ballads sees Carroll deliver 11 songs in magisterial fashion, and that her version of 'Goodbye' charts untold depths of emotion, calling the album one of the few indispensable vocal jazz albums of recent years.

Dave Gelly in The Observer said that surrounded by a changing cast of top musicians and illuminated by piquant arrangements, Carroll's singing takes on a new, glowing depth. Chris Parker of LondonJazz stated that Carroll does not merely interpret songs but inhabits them, intimately confiding in her listeners so that each piece is imbued with unaffectedly sincere, heartfelt emotion. Bruce Lindsay of All About Jazz described her performance of 'Mad About The Boy' as heartbreaking, showing the greatness of the song and the majesty of Carroll's voice, and called the album a classic-in-waiting.

Jack Massarick of the London Evening Standard remarked that with symphonic strings or just solo piano or guitar, there is abundant time to savour her tender side and the mature timbre of her voice.