''The Sweet Keeper'' is the second studio album by British pop/

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fol ...

singer-songwriter

Tanita Tikaram Tanita Tikaram (born 12 August 1969) is a British pop/folk singer-songwriter. She achieved chart success with the singles " Twist in My Sobriety" and " Good Tradition" from her 1988 debut album, ''Ancient Heart''. Background Tikaram was born i ...

, released in 1990. Like her debut album ''

Ancient Heart ''Ancient Heart'' is the debut studio album by British pop/ folk singer-songwriter Tanita Tikaram, initially released by Warner Music Group on 13 September 1988. The album had huge success and was a hit globally, launching 19-year-old Tikaram's ...

'' (1988), it was produced by

Peter Van Hooke Peter Van Hooke (born 6 April 1950) is an English rock drummer and producer with over 350 credits to his name. He was the drummer for the English band Mike + The Mechanics (from 1984 to 1995) and also drummed for Van Morrison's band, Headstone, ...

and

Rod Argent Rodney Terence Argent (born 14 June 1945) is an English musician, singer, songwriter, composer, and record producer. In a career spanning more than 50 years, Argent came to prominence in the mid 1960s as the keyboardist, founder and leader of the ...

. Three tracks from the album were released as singles: " We Almost Got It Together", " Little Sister Leaving Town" and " Thursday's Child".

Critical reception

On its release, Bob Stanley of ''

Melody Maker ''Melody Maker'' was a British weekly music magazine, one of the world's earliest music weeklies; according to its publisher, IPC Media, the earliest. It was founded in 1926, largely as a magazine for dance band musicians, by Leicester-born ...

'' felt Tikaram's voice was the "centrepiece" of the album. He praised the use of strings and brass as "an inspired move", but felt they "intrude" on some of the songs. He considered Tikaram's lyrics to "barely compare" to those of her inspirations,

Leonard Cohen Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian singer-songwriter, poet and novelist. His work explored religion, politics, isolation, depression, sexuality, loss, death, and romantic relationships. He was inducted in ...

and

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan "Joni" Mitchell ( Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian-American musician, producer, and painter. Among the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitchell became known for her sta ...

, stating that they "sound portentous, but are ultimately shadows to the words of Tanita's heroes and heroines". Stanley concluded, "''The Sweet Keeper'' sees Tanita dabbling with the folk-pop of her debut, embellishing and improving it in some areas. They'll love it in Basingstoke and Norway - the next LP will be the real test."

Track listing

All tracks composed by Tanita Tikaram.Tanita Tikaram – The Sweet Keeper
/ref> #"Once & Not Speak" #" Thursday's Child" #"It All Came Back Today" #" We Almost Got It Together" #"Consider the Rain" #"Sunset's Arrived" #" Little Sister Leaving Town" #"I Owe All to You" #"Love Story" #"Harm in Your Hands"

Personnel

*Tanita Tikaram – guitar, vocals *

Mark Isham Mark Ware Isham (born September 7, 1951) is an American musician and film composer. A trumpeter and keyboardist, Isham works in a variety of genres, including jazz and electronic. He is also a film composer, having worked on numerous films and t ...

– trumpet *

– arranger, conductor, keyboards *

Sonny Landreth Clide Vernon "Sonny" Landreth (born February 1, 1951) is an American blues musician from southwest Louisiana who is especially known as a slide guitar player. He was born in Canton, Mississippi, and settled in Lafayette, Louisiana. He lives in Bre ...

– bottleneck guitar *Abigail Brown – violin *Richie Buckley – tenor saxophone *David Clifton – guitar *Mark Cresswell – guitar *Mitch Dalton – acoustic guitar *Mark Davies – cello *Roger Garland – violin *

John Giblin John Giblin, is an active session musician, contributing mainly as an acoustic and electric bass player, and spanning genres of jazz, classical, rock, folk and avant-garde music. Best known as a studio musician, recording film scores and contem ...

– bass *Roy Gillard – violin *John Heley – cello *Helen Kamminga – viola *Martin O'Connor – accordion *

Helen O'Hara Helen O'Hara (born Helen Bevington; 5 November 1956) is a British musician. She was a member and violinist of Dexys Midnight Runners from 1982 to 1987, including performing on songs such as "Come on Eileen", and in 2021 rejoined the band. Early ...

– violin, arranger *Mark – violin *

– arranger, drums *

Clem Clempson David "Clem" Clempson (born 5 September 1949) is an English rock guitarist who has played as a member in a number of bands including Colosseum and Humble Pie. Career Clempson began his career in the late 1960s with the power trio, Bakerloo (o ...

– acoustic guitar *

Rory McFarlane Rory Mcfarlane is a British session musician who has also written scores for anime and games. He is probably best known for his score to the influential anime series ''Cyber City Oedo 808 is a 1990–1991 cyberpunk original video animation. ...

– bass *Katherine Shave – violin *Robert Woollard – cello *Andrew Davis – double bass *Anne Solomon – violin

Charts

Certifications and sales

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Keeper, The 1990 albums Tanita Tikaram albums Albums produced by Rod Argent Albums produced by Peter Van Hooke East West Records albums