Doce Milongas de Amor y un Tango Desesperado

Sometimes it’s hard to hear a song for the first time. That’s certainly the case for me with Delfina Cheb’s version of ‘Milonga del Trovador’. A rendition by Roberto Goyeneche, 1993 album A Los Amigos for Litto Nebbia’s Melopea label, is one of the most melancholy, moving songs I know. Cheb brings to it sweet, clear, youthful vocals where ‘El Polaco’ freighted existential wear and tear. Sad to say, but the latter owns the song. A lot of Doce Milongas de Amor y un Tango Desesperado – a pun on a famous Neruda poetry collection – is like this, with covers of ‘Milonga Sentimental’ and ‘Barrio de Tango’ falling short of earlier efforts. An Argentinian based in Boston and a graduate of Berklee College of Music, Cheb, according to the publicity puff, is considered ‘the Rosalía of Tango.’

Aged just 22, her lack of gravity in performance is understandable, and is perhaps excusable, but she doesn’t offer jazziness or energy or virtuosity as a substitute. In the end, for all that a troupe of gifted flamenco and Cuban musos and stylish production by Javier Limón make this a classy album, the voice is too thin and the timbre too fluting to add more than novelty value to these tangos.