k.d. lang – Drag (Warner Bros.)

k.d. lang’s new all-covers album springs from an admittedly slightly obscure premise – it is made up of songs that equate the act of smoking with a burning passion.

This passion manifests itself in many different directions ranging from the passionate sorrow of “My Last Cigarette” to a completely uncampy survey on the theme song from the ’60s potboiler The Valley Of The Dolls to the surprisingly sultry take on Steve Miller’s “The Joker.”

As always, lang is a brilliant stylist and the song choice shows a quirky good taste. The arrangements can be a little overdone, but this somehow fits the whole cocktail nation premise of the disk. Drag is an album for long sleepless nights of obsessive longing. (6/97)

Jay S. Jacobs

Copyright ©1997. PopEntertainment.com. All rights reserved. Posted: June 10, 1997.