Somebody I'm always excited to hear new music from is Paris-born, London-raised, singer Delilah. When I'd read she had covered Minnie Ripperton's classic Inside My Love, I knew it was going to be a goody.
This is a singer-songwriter with previous form when handling covers- having done a stellar job incorporating Chaka Khan's Ain't Nobody, into her song Go [Review]. So I suspected Delilah wasn't going to be doing a simple cut-and-paste job with the Minnie Ripperton original, or using it to show off her range (as I suspect the reason is for many when choosing to cover Minnie).
And I wasn't wrong. Delilah drags the warm and intimate original down into her realm: the dark, seedy, depths of ambient trip-hop. It works really well with the song, giving it a modern rebirth, while establishing from the outset that this is a cover that is done on Delilah's terms- so expect no whistle notes (the highest she hits is a C#6).
Inside My Love is another cool-as-a-cucumber release from the 21-year-old, and it continues to raise my anticipation for her debut albums, From the Roots Up, which is released on July the 30th.
Rating: B+
Minnie Ripperton's Original and Live version:
