The Intimacy Factor

Everywhere that Laura Fygi visits, she is a veritable vision of exotica. In her home country of the Netherlands, they know her as the woman who was raised in Uruguay as the daughter of an Egyptian belly dancer; in the Far East she is the emancipated Western lady who many others aspire to be. But wherever she may be, there is one common factor in all of those locations: that instantly recognisable voice which has won her hearts all over the globe.

This is Janis Ian's second album from her re-emergence in the early to mid-'70s as one of the genre's most inspired and original singer/songwriters. While this title houses Ian's biggest international hit, the confessional "At Seventeen," the entire effort combines her honest and confessional lyrics with an equally engaging blend of pop/rock and definite jazz and blues. She assembled much of the same ensemble that had worked on her previous long-player, Stars (1975), and much of the material retains the same warmth and intimacy in both her craft as well as the presentation.