To say that vocalist Dana Gillespie has live a full life would be something of an understatement. Originally performing in her teens, Dana has been involved in the recording of over 70 albums in a career that has pulled everyone from Jimmy Page to David Bowie into her orbit. Over the years Dana has veered further into blues territory, yet she has a rich discography that defies easy categorisation and that’s precisely the aesthetic brought to First Love. A collection of surprising covers that not only attest to some of Dana’s inspirations, but evidence a real love of music.

When approaching a cover version an artist shouldn’t present us with a carbon copy (we have the original for that), rather they should impart their own personality on proceedings and wrestle ownership, and that’s precisely what Dana does with each of these songs, and no more so than with opener ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’. Once a pogo-inducing punk rocker, Green Day’s ode to disaffected youth is stripped naked then dressed up in Dana’s own image so the song takes on a much more emotive edge and it finally feels as if the song’s protagonist is actually walking alone. Removed from the story arc of American Idiot, ‘Boulevard Of Broken Dreams’ is solitary and sombre and walks as if a somnambulist.

Perhaps the greatest thing about First Love is that it never stands still (like Dana) and, while it flows smoothly, never inhabits the same sonic space for long. Subsequently, the album’s first single ‘Spent The Day In Bed’ is given a jazzy reading and ensures that Morrissey’s song really swings. Despite receiving the seal of approval from the maudlin one, the track’s real revelation is Dana’s vocal; it’s wonderfully pliant and pliable, and like a piece of plasticine stretches into strange shapes, shifting to fit the song’s lines. From here we hit Leonard Cohen’s ‘Dance Me To The End Of Love’ for a piece of dark cabaret that seems to echo from Weimar Berlin; it’s slightly sinister and dances despite the gathering clouds.

While it is perfectly feasible to dip in and out of First Love and appreciate each track individually, it is best consumed in one sitting to fully experience its ululation. This is an album that’s sequenced like an old school album, and it ebbs and flows as such. It’s a record that hits heady highs and loquacious lows; from the dingy bar room found on ‘Brewer Street Blues’ to the bright sunlight of ‘Can You Hear Me?’, First Love is an album that plays with the listener’s emotions; a lover leading us on, only to then crush our hopes. It means that when a parred back rendition of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ appears to close the album, it hits us in the way only a jilted lover can.

Produced by Marc Almond and Tris Penna, First Love is an album that captures a certain place and time, but it also captures an artist at the peak of their powers, so there’s never been a better time to meet your First Love.

• First Love is released via Fretsore Records on 31th May 2024.
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Track List:

1. Boulevard Of Broken Dreams
2. Spent The Day In Bed
3. Dance Me To The End Of Love
4. Not Dark Yet
5. Brewer Street Blues
6. Gods And Monsters
7. In A Broken Dream
8. Can You Here Me?
9. Simple As This
10. First Love, Last Love
11. Dreams