(Pop, Soul) Rumer - B Sides & Rarities - 2015, MP3, 320 kbps

This collection brings together for the first time many of the tracks which shaped Rumer's 3 Top 10 Albums ('Seasons Of My Soul', 'Boys Don't Cry' and 'Into Colour') or were simply recorded for the love of it. These include Rumer's soulful and idiosyncratic take on a host of classic songwriters, ranging from The Beach Boys ('The Warmth of The Sun'), Paul Simon ('Long Long Day') and The Beatles ('Here Comes The Sun') to works a little closer to home: Rumer duets with Dionne Warwick on 'Hasbrook Heights' (initially performed at the Royal Albert Hall), whilst 'Boys Don't Cry' hero Stephen Bishop (turned friend and 'Into Colour' collaborator) appears on 'Separate Lives'. The compilation also goes right back to the start with Rumer's much-celebrated cover of Burt Bacharach's 'Alfie', who flew Rumer to California five years ago just to hear her sing.
B-Sides & Rarities' assimilates a selection of original outtakes from Rumer's solo albums (the beautiful gospel of 'Frederick Douglass', and the Bond-like theme tune to Johnny English, 'I Believe In You') together with alternative cuts brought under one roof: a slinky, bossa nova version of recent single 'Dangerous', Christopher Cross' 'Arthur' (as featured on Radio 2's Sound of the 80s compilation) and tracks only heard live or on the radio up until now.