Turner - Daydreams & Stars (2023)

Welcome to the ten-track debut album from Salford-based soul singer/songwriter Louise Turner, who previously released the mini-LP This Is Turner in 2013 on Paisley Archive Records. Ian Canty’s reverie takes him on a turn into time and space…

Singer Louise Turner has clocked up session appearances with well-known artists like Elbow and Edward Barton, but she now takes centre stage on her first full-length collection, Daydreams & Stars. She had previously released the five-track This Is Turner mini-LP in 2013, which was recorded with the band DC Fontana. That record was issued on the great Detour Records off-shoot, Paisley Archive (see here for This Is Turner and a host of other delights including the amazing Studio 68! and Guernsey’s own mod heroes, The Risk). It was pretty well received at the time and drew comparisons to some legendary singers of the past too.

It may have taken eight years for the follow-up to arrive, but Daydreams & Stars proves itself well worth the wait. Louise wrote most of the songs on the album, with the opening number, Character, being penned by Mike Vindice. A variety of musicians collaborate with her on this LP, including Yves Altana, Ben Walker, Albert Widowson and Dan Kirkham, and everyone present acquits themselves admirably.

On listening to this collection, Turner’s voice made me immediately think of the late, great soul singers Sharon Tandy and Dusty Springfield. Though not sounding exactly like either, she possesses a voice that has a similar poise and confidence, but is also capable of imparting great emotion (and clear as a bell too). The material presented here gives her carte blanche to run the full range of her beguiling vocal talents.