Sentimental Journey

On her sophomore album, Emmy Rossum finds a song for each month of the year as she travels across a wide-ranging musical landscape. Sentimental Journey lets the singer/actress explore the Broadway and blues sounds of the pre–World War II era, as well as pop and country material from the '60s. Her experience as the leading lady in the film adaptation of the musical Phantom of the Opera serves her well here. Just as importantly, she approaches the album’s songs with an open mind and a warm heart, breathing new life into tunes from simpler days. Rossum dives into lovable chestnuts like “The Object of My Affection” and “I’m Looking Over a Four Leaf Clover” with zest (and hardly a trace of irony). She recalls the vocal shimmer of The Andrews Sisters on “I’ll Be with You in Apple Blossom Time” and catches a bit of Frank Sinatra’s bittersweet swing in “Summer Wind.” From the bluesy longing of “Nobody Knows You When You’re Down and Out” to the pop bounce of “Things” and the countrypolitan pathos of “Pretty Paper,” Rossum runs a gamut of styles while using her stellar abilities as an interpreter.