Pink Martini, the “little orchestra” from Portland, are still one of the bestselling curiosities of the global music scene. Their new album does not feature the US ambassador playing triangle, as he did for a delighted Royal Albert Hall in London recently, but includes songs in eight languages. Their European success started in France with the massive hit Sympathique, and the best tracks here are in French, written by pianist Thomas Lauderdale, with China Forbes presenting a cool blend of chanson and 50s pop on Fini la Musique. Strangely, she only sings on half the album, which includes overambitious cover versions of global classics. There are songs made famous by Fairuz, the darling of the Arab world, Amália Rodrigues, the heroine of Portuguese fado, and even Africa’s greatest singer, Miriam Makeba – and they are not a patch on the originals. But there is an exquisite treatment of Blue Moon by Rufus Wainwright.
