Napoleon Maria - Dreams & Reveries

  by Laura Branch

published: 17 / 12 / 2001

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Maria Napoleon, the guise for Shazna Nessa and three producers-cum-masterminds Jerry Butler, John Austin and Matt Hulse, sees the sixties influenced chic pop series, Reverie, brought to its conclusion. Following on from the ultra childlike Lollipop Train, “Dreams and Reveries” blends together “grown up” sophistication with plenty of cheeky innocence. “Dreams and Reveries” sees a sequential juxtaposition of more light-hearted out and out retro tracks with an almost introspective melancholia on tracks such as “Diary of a young man”, upon which mournful yet jangly guitars fuse with hushed fragile vocals. “Candy on the Inside”, however, sees a return to a happy go lucky sound, and possesses a certain charming winsome quality. Any aspiring young nerds out there should also be pleased to see the inclusion of “Tropical Forest” from “The Prisoner” (I know I am), so you can get all misty eyed for a few minutes and imagine being chased by a big white balloon whilst shouting “I am not a number, I am a free man!” Scary ! It has to be said, however, that Maria Napoleon exude even more style than Audrey Hepburn – if you can imagine that being possible! This is reflected in the title track, which furnishes us with the usual fantastic cocktail lounge sound, which is backed up by breathy impish vocals from Ms Nessa, while a changeable rhythm acts to mirror the idea of a playful dream sequence. “I’m in love with David Candy” meanwhile, has plenty of girl/boy ba ba ba-ing to keep you happy, and is somewhat reminiscent of the ultra seductive Jane Birkin and Serge Gainsbourg. Grrr indeed. Such delicate and graceful elegance brings the Reverie series to an apt conclusion, although more importantly it makes me want to rush out buy my own xylophone.

Track Listing:-

1 Blue
2 Dreams And Reveries
3 I'm In Love With David Candy
4 Bubbly Bath
5 Postcard From Sardinia
6 Aerial View Of The City
7 Tropical Forest (From 'The Prisoner')
8 Diary Of A Young Man
9 Candy On The Inside
10 A Wish

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