01	Little Water Song						04:00
	02	The Case Continues						03:52
	03	Passionate Fight						04:13
	04	Tango Ballad						04:59
	05	Couldn't You Keep That To Yourself						02:50
	06	Streets Of Berlin						04:03
	07	The Part You Throw Away						04:40
	08	Split						03:43
	09	Punishing Kiss						04:32
	10	Purple Avenue						04:23
	11	You Were Meant For Me						05:17
	12	Scope J						10:51

Date of Release Apr 4, 2000

AMG EXPERT REVIEW: Ute Lemper has developed a reputation as a successor to Lotte Lenya with the looks of Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich, a northern European chanteuse with a taste for the decadent sound of Weimar Germany; she is arguably the definitive interpreter of Kurt Weill for her generation. Punishing Kiss, her first album devoted primarily to songs by contemporary songwriters, extends her reputation by incorporating the work of artists influenced by Weill, including Elvis Costello, Tom Waits, and Nick Cave. But the primary collaborators on the album are the members of the British group the Divine Comedy, who provide the backing tracks on most of the songs, and three compositions by group members Neil Hannon and Joby Talbot, with Hannon singing duet vocals on three tracks. The sound of Weill - the early Weill - pervades the album, starting with the inclusion of his "Tango Ballad," a song in which a couple reminisce about the good old days when he was a procurer and she a prostitute. Such a decadent tone continues in Cave's "Little Water Song" (sung by a woman who is being drowned by her lover), Costello's complex tales of romantic dissolution, and in the characteristic Waits songs of romantic low-life types. Among the most impressive selections, however, are the Divine Comedy tracks "The Case Continues" and "Split," which finds Lemper and Hannon hurling witty insults at each other. From its extensive set of photographs of Lemper in black leather posing in a decaying building to the dramatic arrangements and the singer's powerful, precise vocals, this is highly stylized art music given a pop element by its composers. A daring effort, it deserves more of an audience than it is likely to get, at least at first. - William Ruhlmann

1. The Case Continues (Hannon/Talbot) - 3:51
2. Tango Ballad (Brecht/Talbot/Weill) - 5:00
3. Passionate Fight (Costello/Nieve) - 4:13
4. Little Water Song (Cave/Pisek) - 3:58
5. Purple Avenue (Waits) - 4:23
6. Streets of Berlin (Glass/Sherman) - 4:01
7. Split (Hannon/Talbot) - 3:41
8. Couldn't You Keep That to Yourself (Costello) - 2:49
9. Punishing Kiss (Costello/Costello/ORiordan) - 4:32
10. You Were Meant for Me (Hannon/Talbot) - 5:14
11. The Part You Throw Away (Brennan/Waits) - 4:44
12. Scope J (Engel) - 10:51

THE DIVINE COMEDY (Joby Talbot,Jon Jacobs,Neil Hannon...)




The daughter of a banker father and opera singer mother Ute Lemper grew up listening to American jazz and pop music. At an early age, entranced with the prospect of an entertainment career, she began to study piano, voice, and ballet. She started her stage career working in jazz and piano bars at the age of fifteen sining standard like "Lullaby of Birdland" and "Night and Day." She soon became intensely interested in acting as well and spent two years at the Staatstheater Stuttgart performing in works by Fassbinder and Chekhov. She also trained in classical theater at the prestigious Max Reinhardt Seminar in Vienna.
Although Ms. Lemper has enjoyed her greatest professional success as a singer, she is also an accomplished actress. She made her film debut in 1991 playing a haughty Queen Marie-Antoinette in the French production of L'Autricienne. That same year she worked on two additional French film, Pierre Qui Biule, a contemporary political film, and Jean Galmot, a 19th century adventure. She also appeared in Peter Greenway's Prospero's Books.
Ute has also worked extensively on stage. Her first important role was in the Biennese production of Andrew Lloyd Weber's Cats. For a year she alternated between roles of Grizabella and Bombalurina. Next, she took on the tittle role in the Berlin production of Peter Pan. She later portrayed Sally Bowles in Cabaret and Lola in the Blue Angel. In addition to her stage work singing and acting, she has peformed as aprincipal dancer in a ballet created for her by noted choreographer MAurice Bejart entitled La Morte Suite.
But it is Ute's singing career which has brought her the most attention. In addition to her Weill, Piaff and Dietrich recordings, she released a pop album, Crimes of the Heart in 1991. She also collaborated with composer Michael Nyman to record Songbook. The lyrics are based on different classic poems by famous authors including Paul Delan, Arthur Rimbaud and William Shakespeare. Songbook is a departure of Ute's usual repertoire and she credits Nyman for pushing her to new creative heights. CD Review called Songbook among the ost interesting recordings to date.
The last two year exemplify Ute's continuing artistic goals - she was the "voice" in a series of concerts put on by Michael Nyman based on the previously mentioned Songbook; she took part in a tour titled "Homage to Cathy Berberian" under the leadership of Lucciano Berio, and she also made her debut at La Scala in Milan singing The Seven Deadly Sins with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Kent Nagano. Recently, she recorded her first album for Polydor, Espace Indecent. The recording is eleven original songs written by Patrice Guirao with music by Art Mengo. Ms. Lemper provided the English translation herself.
Ute Lemper's pastimes include painting (she mounted expositions in 1993 in Paris and Hamburg); Journalism(she has written articles for Liberation, Die Welt, and The Guardian); she has recently completed her first book and she recently completed a role in the Robert Altman film, Pret-a-Porter.






Ute Lemper, 'Punishing Kiss'
Exclusive review by Fiona Thorne



'Punishing Kiss',
Ute Lemper

Ute Lemper is best known for her stage performances in musicals and for championing the music of the German Cabaret, so it is perhaps unsurprising that her first album of songs by mostly contemporary songwriters is a very theatrical affair. All of the tracks conjure up rich images and could have come from films or shows but only two of them have - Kurt Weill's 'Tango Ballad' (from his 'Threepenny Opera') and Philip Glass's darkly brooding 'Streets Of Berlin' (from the film 'Bent').

Nick Cave's opener 'Little Water Song' is a hauntingly beautiful piece - the last thoughts of a girl as she is drowned by her lover - Joby Talbot's wonderful string arrangements serenely evoke her watery grave. Joby's usual colleagues, The Divine Comedy, played quite a large part in this album as they performed most of the music and Joby co-wrote three of the songs with Neil Hannon. Neil duets with Ute on two tracks including 'Tango Ballad' which was included to mark the anniversaries of Kurt Weill's birth and death (100 and 50 years respectively) but it has been given a 'modern feel'. I'm not sure if this is a good thing or not, the 'tango' aspect being rather diluted. It is also a peculiar subject - happy reminiscences of an abusive and exploitative relationship but it grows on you and Neil's voice harmonises beautifully with Ute's. This is even more evident on the wonderfully theatrical lovers row 'Split' (by Hannon and Talbot). Of their other tracks 'The Case Continues' begins with a simple and very Irish sounding piano phrase then expands widthways - Riverdance anyone?! Very dramatic! 'You Were Meant For Me' is fantastic, somewhere between a tango and a Bond movie theme it builds to a passionate crescendo of desperate, obsessive, unrequited love. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to feel moved.

Elvis Costello co-wrote three of the songs, including the title-track which is surreal, like smooth dark chocolate with an exploding sherbet fizz centre! 'Passionate Fight' is a lovely dance through a doomed affair with a '60s feel. It reminds me of 'Scandal' by The Pet Shop Boys (with Dusty Springfield) or 'Cowboys and Angels' by George Michael.

The two Tom Waits ballads are gentle, soulful and atmospheric, reminiscent of late afternoons and continental cafйs.

Scott Walker's finale is not a song but a composition. 'Scope J' is a musical journey through the limbo of semiconscious delirium. With disjointed snatches of lyrics, musical frenzy and serenity it veers between nightmarish paranoia and drifting calm, but somehow it all works and isn't bad to listen to.

Ute's wonderfully expressive voice combined with such a wealth of musical talent make this a very special album which draws you back time and again.



This is from Ute Lemper's latest album, Punishing Kiss, published by Decca Records.
Music and Lyrics: Elvis Costello

I favour a good punishing kiss
It helps pass the lonely afternoons
Another stiff drink
Wipe off that lipstick
For when you reach a certain age
All the most villainous men
Can be found on channel ten
And I make them dance
In attendance
We will be back
In a minute or two
And he will punish that girl
Oh I forget the reason
Just look at me I'm lost in a social whirl

She was never so witty
Always struggling to be full of fun
On weekdays from midday to one
In a little black cocktail dress everyone hates
She'll be saving the world in-between fashion plates
I know what she gets up to in the back of that black limousine
And I find myself shouting at the screen
I think that it's time to turn over
They say it's harmless I know
Hundred ten percent certain virtually real
If you need something to feel

Then favour a good punishing kiss
It helps chase the wasted afternoons
The flowers and the pearls
The long lost relations
That love sick tomboy comes in bloom
All the pointless heartache
That seems to belong in my blue bloom
Can't stand the suspense
The endless embraces
When each episode
Lends a silly pretence
Say I can turn away
When I will never miss
It starts with a joke
And ends with a punishing kiss