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Rickie Lee Jones: The Devil You Know

Rob Hughes, Uncut, November 2012

LITTLE OVER A MINUTE into her funereal version of 'St James Infirmary', Rickie Lee Jones lets out a sudden cry of anguish. Such is the sustained hush of The Devil You Know that it almost feels like an intrusion, a rupturing of some otherworldly spell. This is an album of covers that draws its power from the subtle expressionism of Jones' voice, backed by the most minimal of arrangements. She's no stranger to this game, of course. 1983's Girl At Her Volcano EP was a torchy set of jazz standards that found a later echo in Pop Pop (1991), which drafted in Charlie Haden and Joe Henderson for a bunch of covers that veered from Sammy Cahn to Jimi Hendrix.

Total word count of piece: 307

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