Today AJ Lambert, granddaughter of Frank Sinatra and daughter of Nancy Sinatra, releases her first full length solo album, Careful You. Careful You is an album of unique, poignant interpretations of songs by artists including Spoon, TV on the Radio and John Cale, as well as some of her grandfather's deep cuts such as "Sleep Warm" and "I'll Be Seeing You." The album was recorded with a full band and produced by Daniel Schlett (The War on Drugs, Amen Dunes) and Boshra AlSaadi (TEEN, Janka Nabay). AJ will tour in support of the release, with a full band featuring musicians from the album, such as drummer Parker Kindred (who also plays with Joan As Policewoman) and bassist Josh Werner (who recently collaborated on a release with Bill Laswell).
She recently debuted a video for the album's title track. AJ self-directed the video for "Careful You," a song she takes to be about trying your best to persuade someone to take a chance on love. "To me, the song is about the risk you take that you're going to hurt yourself while you're trying to win someone else's heart, all the machinations that can go into that - you want to seem at ease and confident but deep down it feels like life or death."
Of the album track "I Summon You" (a Spoon cover), Britt Daniel says: "If you're gonna cover someone else's song, you'd better be prepared to add something to it that wasn't there before, and it's equally important to find a way to bring your own personality to the performance. Otherwise what's the point - in today's world, the original version is always readily accessible via the chips embedded into the backs of our skulls. Fortunately, AJ's managed to do both with her reworking of 'I Summon You.' It's a trip to hear my song done this way. Thanks, AJ." She also recently debuted a video for "You and Your Sister" directed by Boshra AlSaadi (TEEN, Janka Nabay).
Last year she released Lonely Songs, a collaborative EP with Greg Ahee of Protomartyr) to celebrate the 60th anniversary of her grandfather's seminal album, Only the Lonely, and debuted a video for "Lush Life." The orchestral release also includes "Only the Lonely," "Willow Weep for Me," and "It's a Lonesome Old Town." In AJ's words: "These songs let me say thank you to Frank. I'm so honored to carry on a bit of this tradition of being a song interpreter and it's so much fun to do it in a modern way... I believe that good music is good music is good music, no matter what era it's from... Greg was a big fan of the album already so it was fun to collaborate." Piano and vocals on the EP were recorded at Steve Albini's Electrical Audio in Chicago, and mixed by Chris Koltay at Detroit's High Bias. All tracks were recorded live.
AJ Lambert has worked as a film music supervisor and bassist in various bands (including Here We Go Magic and a reunion of seminal punk icons The Homosexuals). As a solo vocalist, she performs two complete Sinatra albums live - In The Wee Small Hours and Only the Lonely - with John Boswell on piano, at small clubs and theaters around the country. AJ also hosts "Third Generation" on Sirius XM's "Siriusly Sinatra" channel and regularly performs at private and charity events.
Whether performing with a pianist, a full band or on record, AJ Lambert's style and interpretations of both standards and contemporary music alike are truly her own.
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