I Can Only Be Me

It may be difficult to imagine a connection between the warmth and humanity of singer Eva Cassidy and the technology of cutting-edge innovation in audio restoration. But it is the marriage of those two seemingly different worlds that has helped create one of the most poignant and at times eerily transcendental albums that will be released this year.

'I Can Only Be Me' is a collaborative work that pares back one of the most cherished voices of the past 40 years and allows London's oldest symphony orchestra to bathe it in an evocative new light. Taking as its starting point a series of vocals recorded by Cassidy before her death from cancer at the age of 33, the project has encompassed the creative input of composers, instrumentalists and technicians from Old Street to Brighton, Nashville to Pasadena. Their achievement is to bring to an artist who has already struck an emotional chord with millions around the world an entirely fresh reading.

As extraordinary as its technical achievements may be, it is not feats of digital expertise that will captivate listeners to this hauntingly beautiful album. 'I Can Only Be Me' creates yet another facet to the story of Eva Cassidy, whose brief life, cruel death and above all whose honesty and vulnerability have touched so many. The almost tangible sense of her presence, which has been at the root of her unparalleled posthumous career, is more vivid and haunting than ever.