Vera Lynn - Keep Smiling Through (2020) [Hi-Res]

Keep Smiling Through, a new album from Dame Vera Lynn, will feature one of her final recordings, as well as other previously unreleased and re-orchestrated versions of classic songs, writes Nick Benson.

A National Treasure we sadly lost in June 2020, Dame Vera Lynn’s iconic voice has raised the nation’s spirits and given us pride and strength, through many difficult times.

Now, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, her legacy lives on in a brand new album, which seeks to bring the nation together to sing in the spirit of community.

Keep Smiling Through features brand-new, never heard before versions of re-orchestrated classic Vera Lynn songs with her beautiful, timeless and inspiring vocals. The album also features one of the last known recordings, her recital of High Flight: a moving poem written by a WWII fighter pilot read by Dame Vera and accompanied by music. There is also a specially recorded medley and a brand-new version of White Christmas as bonus tracks.

In a tribute to Dame Vera and to celebrate the album release, on Sunday 8thNovember, communities of care home residents across the UK will unite in isolation to join in a virtual mass sing along with The Smiling Sessions brought to you by Shapeshifter Productions, a registered charity, to sing We’ll Meet Again. Not since the songs original release in 1939 and subsequent war years that followed, has it ever held a more appropriate meaning and message of hope for the nation.