Splitting the difference between their first two LPs,
Take Me All Over the World embraces the Brill Building pop of both early girl groups and more melancholy,
Bacharach-type drama. That's the wheelhouse of
the Yearning, the project of songwriter/multi-instrumentalist/producer Joe Moore with singer Maddie Dobie. Here, Dobie continues to deliver wistful melodies with the earnestness and longing of a lovestruck teen (she actually was a teenager on all prior material). The delicate "How Do You Make Somebody Fall in Love?" opens the record with acoustic guitar, woodwinds, strings, and cross-stick snare under a vocal line that strolls and occasionally twirls its skirt through flower patches in the early morning dew. It does so while considering metaphors like: "How d'you build a palace on the sun, my dear?/How d'you send an astronaut to Mars?" Later, the elegant bossa nova "Airplane (Fly Me to Mexico)" is a centerpiece that's not only the collection's longest track at four-and-a-half minutes but perhaps its most expansive one, with ornamental windchimes, backing harmonies, and crescendoing cymbal rolls, as well as a swing passage that leads into a dreamy saxophone solo. Moore joins Dobie for the duet waltz "Learn to Love," which continues to wonder how two individuals can find mutual affection. A set of six songs dubbed a mini-LP,
Take Me All Over the World goes by quickly, but immaculate arrangements on songs that unfold with patience and craftsmanship make it a fine entry point for newcomers, recommended for fans of its era of inspiration, and essential for fans. ~ Marcy Donelson