Sentimental (Tanita Tikaram Album)

''Sentimental'' is the seventh studio album by Tanita Tikaram, released in 2005. The album was released only on the French label Naïve Records.

Background

After releasing her previous album '' The Cappuccino Songs'' in 1998, Tikaram retired from the music scene and lived in Italy for a time. During the 7 year-gap between albums, she tried to start an album in the more electronic vein of her last, but she decided it wasn't working and then went on to study piano for three years, an instrument she had never learnt to play. Her piano teacher, Daniela Ronconi, eventually played several instruments on the album, as well as arranging and mixing the songs.

''Sentimental'' sees Tikaram playing the piano on a record for the first time in her career, and not her usual instrument of choice, the guitar. She eventually decided to record the songs in a warmer, live-in-studio approach without any electronic overdubs and with her voice and the piano as the focal points. The result is Tikaram's jazziest album of her career. Tikaram described the album's sound as "groovy" without being exaggerated.

For the first time on her albums, Tikaram duetted with male singers. The record's drummer, Robert Treherne, who had never sung on record, duets with Tikaram on "Everyday Is New" and "Forever", because Tikaram heard him sing the latter song before a rehearsal and decided his voice complemented hers perfectly. Treherne, a longtime collaborator with singer Nick Lowe