Madeleine Peyroux — Music Videos

Madeleine Peyroux is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist whose music connects jazz singing with blues, folk, and the interpretation of modern popular songs. Her conversational phrasing and lightly weathered tone allow a lyric to unfold with an unusual sense of ease.

Her 2004 album Careless Love includes “Dance Me to the End of Love” and “Don’t Wait Too Long.” The first is an interpretation of Leonard Cohen’s song; the second offers a different introduction to her balance of rhythmic lightness and emotional directness.

A Peyroux performance often depends on a small delay or a shift in vocal colour rather than a large gesture. Listen to how her phrasing settles into the accompaniment, and how an apparently relaxed delivery can make a line’s meaning more precise.