Suzanne Vega bassist, Mike Visceglia, and Australian vocalist Fiona McBain have recorded a 10-track CD of covers re-arranged for bass guitar and vocals with some very interesting results. As a scaled down, two-piece act they are able to achieve a subtlety rarely heard on many of today’s recordings. Although Then There Were Two could hastily be placed within the coffee house format of inoffensive duos, they can easily traverse the ground between jazz, blues, folk and pop and then some. With their combined talents both technically and arrangement wise, McBain and Visceglia could well be defining the shape of musical acts to come!

This album has an interesting vibe to it and – without any derogative connotation – could be quite at home playing in your local Starbucks or that cool bookshop just around the corner. The album is “compact” enough to not overstay its welcome, at just over 36 minutes. The arrangement of vocals and bass may fall into a limited spectrum but there is so much going on musically that the marriage of the two instruments has an otherworldly chemistry. Ironically, this is made all the more interesting because Mike Visceglia is playing an electric bass as opposed to the jazz format of a double bass and Fiona McBain has a distinctive British vocal style.

If you are looking for a relaxing album to accompany a romantic dinner, or something to that you can put on while you’re reading that newly purchased novel, or – better still – an album to sit in and share the atmosphere with - then this is it.

This review is available in book format (hardcover and paperback) in Music Street Journal: 2008  Volume 2 at lulu.com/strangesound.