NIÑA MORENA

Unsurprisingly the not-exactly-progressive British singer-songwriter Duncan Browne (1947 -- 1993) hasn't received much of attention. This far my only acquaintance was the charming, ripped-down acoustic debut Give Me Take You (1968) which gave me associations to early Al Stewart. After recently adding some singles I'm curious to have a glimpse of his later period. On his third -- and, in this site, the best rated -- album The Wild Places (1978) he was accompanied by keyboardist Tony Hymas and the rhythm section of John Giblin and Simon Phillips. That one and its follower Streets of Fire (1979) featuring the same co-musicians have been compared to Bryan Ferry / latter-era Roxy Music.

Both songs on this single are taken from Streets of Fire. 'Nina Morena' is a fascinating low-key song with a mysterious nocturnal feel. Browne sings in a soft voice, admittedly slightly reminiscent of Al Stewart and Bryan Ferry, and to my surprise I'm also thinking of both Henk Hofstede and Robert Jan Stips of NITS, which band serves as a good musical reference, too. If you know that Dutch art-pop group, think of their later albums such as Wool (2000) or Les Nuits (2005) and the more delicate songs on them. For example 'The Eiffel Tower' from the latter comes pretty close to 'Nina Morena' in the atmosphere. The Nits-like sophisticated percussion is central, and bright short synth crescendos here and there make the arrangement dynamic and exciting. I like this!

Interestingly 'Fauvette' gives me further musical associations. The more rhythmic guitar oriented sound reminds me of DIRE STRAITS (think of songs such as 'Lions', 'Lady Writer', 'Communique' or 'Expresso Love'), and the slightly lazy singing is not very far from Mark Knopfler either, with a hint of Lou Reed. In the light of these highly pleasant songs I believe I'd find the whole album interesting.

According to All Music Guide this period "was as close as Duncan Browne ever got to rock stardom, his records sought after in locales like New York's East Village and played on American college radio stations. Creem magazine critic Janis Schact pegged him as the voice that was 'about to launch [a thousand romances] into the 1980s.' Despite some beautiful and surprisingly hard-rocking music that was sort of new wave melodic, however, there wasn't enough interest or activity to sustain this phase of Browne's career." The 90's saw his early albums being re-released on CD. Duncan Browne was stricken with cancer in the early '90s.