Nature

1	The World in Which We Live 4:17
2	Dog's Life 3:30
3	I Lost My Nature 3:56
4	Chasing the White Line Down 4:05
5	Everlasting No 3:03
6	Who Would Guess? 4:00
7	Still She Knows 3:49
8	How Do You Break a Heart? 4:20
9	Cinder 4:43
10	Sandman 3:29
11	Small Black Heart 4:22
12	Kiss Me Quick 2:46
13	Blue Nile 6:52
14	The World in Which We Live Bonus Track / Multimedia Track

Barnes & Noble

At the band’s first gig, Dave’s True Story vocalist Kelly Flint introduced a song as “another one of Dave’s true stories,” and the name stuck. She was referring to songwriter Dave Cantor, a playwright in an earlier incarnation who now pens the group’s sensuous down-tempo studies in pop-jazz. Nature’s songs are so cool and seductive, it takes a few listens before Cantor's urbane, edgy lyrics sink in, but the discovery then adds another layer of appreciation. That appreciation has been growing, resulting in sales of over 50,000 CDs, without major-label support. (In 2001, Dave's True Story thought their big break had finally come when two of their songs were featured in the indie film Kissing Jessica Stein -- however, they were inexplicably excluded from the movie’s soundtrack CD.) From the sinuous bossa nova beat and sinister lyrics of “World in Which We Live” to the loungy blues of “Chasin’ the White Line Down,” Flint is an enchanting, versatile chanteuse whose voice recalls Astrud Gilberto and Julee Cruise. Producer/bassist Jeff Eyrich gives it a just the right touch of haunting echo, and the supporting ensemble includes Bernard Ulrich’s sultry saxophone licks and Fred Walcott’s laid-back bongos. Top-shelf. Lissa Kiernan

All Music Guide

On its fourth album and first release in three years, this trio further crystallizes its formula of cocktail jazz meets deceptively biting lyrics. The initial impression is that this sounds too much like elevator or dentist office music for anyone's good, yet the songs grab your ears after a few spins, helped enormously by producer Jeff Eyrich's tasteful mood and arrangements that add heft to the basic trio's stripped-down sound. Percussion, sax, vibes, organ, and even accordion are all utilized at various times to flesh out these tunes, making them throb with a full yet cushy glow. Vocalist Kelly Flint remains the focus with a Peggy Lee/k.d. lang-styled voice that makes these songs soar. There are echoes of Norah Jones and Sade, but this is jazzier than either and aims for a more shadowy fringe. The dichotomy of the gentle, easy listening melodies and David Cantor's edgy, often dark concepts is a brilliant stroke. It makes this music perfect for the lounge crowd, chatting while twirling their swizzle sticks, or for serious listening with the lyric sheet in hand. The richness of the sound of "A Dog's Life" nearly obscures ominous lines such as "No ounce of prevention will kill you like the cure, this dog's life is hard to endure," sung by Flint in an upbeat, burnished yet dreamy style. The musical/lyrical contradiction and floating melodies with subtle hooks produce wonderfully sharp and unique jazz. Nature shows Dave's True Story to be crafty innovators in a genre where there aren't many other musicians pushing the envelope. Hal Horowitz