Album Notes

 "Sweetly seductive" - The Age
 
Monique diMattina, Fulbright scholar come Singer/Songwriter launches her second album - Welcome Stranger.

Known for exquisite piano stylings ('Senses' 2009 enjoyed extensive ABC and BBC airplay), diMattina glides for the first time into the Jazz/Pop territory of her teen idol Rickie Lee Jones in this impressive release. Musical collaborators include Australian guitar and bass virtuosi Doug de Vries, Sam Lemann and Ben Robertson, Steve Grant (C.W.Stoneking - accordion/trumpet) and perennial bluesman Andrew Swann on drums/guitars.

No stranger to songwriting or singing, diMattina returned to Melbourne to record Welcome Stranger following several years working in New York City, with artists as diverse as Lou Reed, Bjork and the bands of Peter Gabriel, Suzanne Vega and Norah Jones.

Welcome Stranger pays homage to diMattina's hometown Melbourne, humour and pathos gloriously entwining in songs such as the blues-hip 'Livingest Place' ("the weather man tries but he really doesn't know") sardonic 'Joan of Burwood' ("all she ever does is burn the steak..") and includes one cover - Australian compatriat Paul Kelly's 'Dumb Things'. 

Stylistically Welcome Stranger's catchy grooves draw from lyrical country blues and New Orleans roots. Fans of the solo piano album Senses will recognise the characteristic diMattina elegance and mystic serenity...

"Beautiful, spacious, spare"
Lucky Oceans, ABC Radio National

"Cherishing each note she plays and the spaces between them"
Doug Spencer, ABC Radio National 

"Calm notes with a sharp intelligence" 
Sue Roberts, BBC Radio
 
“A touch, tone and sensibility only found in artists of the highest caliber” 
Dr Tony Gould