(Photo : Frances Black "Stronger" )

Some songs do not have expiration dates.  Like pieces of patina antiques, give them a simple dusting and they are still as exquisite and priceless.   This is what Frances Black tries to do on her debut for Compass Records "Stronger."  Giving an eclectic set of her favorite songs a little dusting, Black has made these sonic chestnuts sound like they were written just for her.  So, regardless of the songs' variegated genres and age, they have been so varnished with Black's own patented style of folky pop that they flow together cohesively on record.  Born in the Ranelagh area of Dublin, Ireland, Black first appeared on the music scene as a member of Arcady and the Black Family.  Later, embarking on a solo career, Black released her debut solo album, "Talk to Me" in 1994. The album broke all records when it sold over 100,000 copies and spent eight weeks at the top of Ireland's music charts.  Further, her award winning single "All the Lies that You Told Me" established Black as one of the prevailing voices in Ireland.  Compilation albums aside, Black went on to release 5 more albums. Since 2006's "This Love will Carry," "Stronger" is Black's first studio album of entirely new material.

Like a pretty girl who needs no makeup to look startlingly radiant, the voice of Frances Black needs no musical adornment to mesmerize.  Her voice is so tender that it presents a sense of vulnerability that could rattle the hardest of hearts.  Yet, there is also a shade of melancholy around her vocal timbre that when she croons a sad ballad you can't help but feel your tear ducts tingled.  Black puts her voice to great effect on the album's strongest cut "I Would Be Stronger Than That."  Formerly cut by fellow Irish lassie Maura O'Connell and country superstar Faith Hill, "I Would Be Stronger than That" is a gorgeous ballad about the friendship between two ladies.  The song allows us to eavesdrop on a phone conversation between the two friends as one confides to the other about her tumultuous marriage that was falling apart.  In the context of our individualistic society where we have more acquaintances than real friends, "I Would Be Stronger Than That" brings a sense of admiration.

A slice is autobiography is woven into Black's take of Bob Dylan's "Rise."  As the founder of "The Rise Foundation," a ministry that exists to help alcoholics, when Black sings about the hopeless being able to rise again, one can't help but feel Black's heart reaching out to those who have come to seek her aid.  Then for a nostalgic ride into the past, Black takes us to 1971 when James Taylor released a top 40 hit "Long Ago and Far Away."  Black's beguiling voice effortlessly brings out the palatable melancholy as the song laments over the loss of innocence and a bygone time of simplicity. Wonderful too are the couple of songs that expound on complexities of human love.  Both Sarah McLachlan's "Stupid" and Anna McCarrigle's "Heart Like a Wheel" speak of love's enthralling powers in getting us to do things that might ultimately break our hearts.  Even though the sui genesis of both paeans come from such different eras and genres, yet Black has an uncanny way of bringing them together that it doesn't even feel odd to have them played one after another.

Quite stunning though is Black's treatment of Sheryl Crow's "Strong Enough."  Rather than the brash disposition of the original to hasten the protagonist's paramour to buckle up and be a man, Black's rendition is more sympathetic which at the end of the day might be more effective.  While Carole King's "It's Too Late" (also the lead single off this record) is turned into a bluesy shuffle recalling Bonnie Riatt at her best.  "Stronger" is a textbook example of how to take an eclectic collection of covers and making them your very own.  The re-imagination, the forethought, the creative use of instrumentations and Black's haunting vocals truly bring out a fresh coat of paint to these sonic antiques that deserve to be heard again and again.