“Striking, soulful, enchanting — vocalist Tessa Souter’s Obsession is likely to rank high on ‘best of’ lists at year’s end. Though the album brims with performances that reveal Souter’s jazz sensibilities, listeners needn’t have much interest in the genre to fall under her spell.”
“Souter’s crystalline contralto and impeccable phrasing are mighty arrows in her quiver, but it is her ability to become one with a song, finding its intrinsic core and allowing its sentiments to grow organically, that enables her to score successive bull’s eyes.”
“The best thing is that Souter sounds different…. Expressive … full of passion … while Love Theme from Spartacus – a brief and daring duet with guitarist Jason Ennis – reminds me that there really is a love song buried in there.”
“Centred by the sheer skill and vocal artistry with which she imbues everything she sings . . . At once unassumingly virtuosic and uncontrivedly emotional, the Souter voice is simply one of the most attractive sounds in contemporary vocal jazz.”
“… exciting, sensual, and satisfying … really exemplary emotion and execution. One can easily get lost in Souter’s rich alto vocals … And, though one may have heard these songs many times before in their original versions or on remakes, here they seem fresh.”
“Obsession . . . has so many indelible moments . . . fearless song choices . . . a very intimate sound, where Souter’s clear contralto and its marvelous tone rings through in all its glory.”
“… a beguiling, atmospheric singer with a bell-clear alto voice who finds intriguing ways to instill jazz sensibilities into pop, Brazilian and other material.”
“The singer has a rich contralto and uses it to great dramatic and musical effect. She starts with the familiar ‘Eleanor Rigby’ in a completely fresh arrangement that she created … Her rendition ranks up there with the Beatles’ original and the classic one by Ray Charles.”
“One of the few exceptional standouts in the crowded field of female jazz singers … a gripping display of her ability to do it all … the work of an artist with the talent and the imagination to match her compelling musical visions.”
“With her rich contralto and crystal-clear diction … Souter knows how to get inside a song … a deeply satisfying album of jazz and jazz-inflected music that should appeal to a wide audience.”
“Souter stands out in a large field of contemporary jazz vocalists because, unlike most of them, she thinks before she sings and never compromises the music with irrelevancies. This contemplative aspect, along with her unique style, precise articulation and her well-trained, stunning voice, make Souter a vocalist to reckon with and one whose development should be followed with great interest.”
“To understand that you are in front of a refined and complex artist just listen to the tense and languid cover of ‘Eleanor Rigy’ that opens this amazing Obsession.”
