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BIC RUNGA: Try To Remember Everything

I've never had any hesitation in nominating Bic Runga as from the top echelon of pop singer songwriters. After three studio and one live album, this stop gap release in between albums brings together b sides, live versions and other rarities. For an artist with such a sparse album output, Bic has a lot of quality tracks that are yet to appear on full length records. She says she went through 30 boxes worth of material to find the 14 tracks selected here, so the biggest disappointment is the choice of three needless covers instead of her own compositions. (Here's three replacements they could've had - Good Morning Baby, Welcome To My Kitchen and Lonely Lola.) I've always preferred her reflective, introspective, Bic and guitar moments, and this album starts and ends with beautiful examples in All Fall Down and Close The Door Put Out The Light. A live Drive also revisits this fragile territory. The four album tracks she provides alternate versions of are from among the high points of her repertoire, and include the underrated surprise off 'Birds' - Blue Blue Heart and the heartbreakingly gorgeous Gravity. New track Everyone Must Love is almost a lullaby, likely alluding to her being a mother now.

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