Diana Krall

“WALLFLOWER”

Verve Records

Diana Krall sounds glum and fatigued on “Wallflower,” a collection of ’70s and ’80s songs associated with the Eagles, Elton John, the Carpenters and others, that sustains a mood of quiet desperation. The muted, wistful tone is established with the opening cut, “California Dreamin’,” the Mamas and the Papas’ first hit in which Krall’s somnolent delivery suggests a snowbound New Englander longing for brighter days and happier times on a frigid winter evening. It is deepened by her rendition of “Desperado,” the Eagles’ ballad comparing a rock star’s grueling life on the road to the exhaustion of an aging cowboy reluctant to come in from the range.

The most evocative cut is the Carpenters’ hit “Superstar,” the plea to a rock star by a besotted fan to remember her long after their dalliance.

“Wallflower” was produced and arranged by the megahit maker David Foster, whose lush but static string arrangements, written by William Ross, couch each song on a soft feather bed. Where Krall usually plays vigorous keyboards on her albums, here her pianism is all but absent. Most of the fills, played by Foster, are strictly routine. It’s all the more mystifying because Krall, when prodded by a rhythm section, can really swing. But on “Wallflower,” drums are minimal.

The record, whose title song is an obscure, country-inflected Bob Dylan number, has the feel of a sullen concept album by a woman who feels abandoned. It is tempting to imagine that it reflects the frustrations of her marriage to Elvis Costello. These two great musicians, after all, are driven workhorses who are on the road much of the time on separate tours. Loneliness is such a sad affair.

— Stephen Holden,

New York Times