Pop Music Reviews : Tear-Drenched Tunes From Torchy Fordham

You may walk into a Julia Fordham show whistling a happy tune, but don’t expect to leave that way. The young singer-songwriter will wipe that smile off your face--fast.

She’s a compelling singer who infuses her songs with as much ache and pain as possible, but Fordham, who played the Henry Fonda Theatre on Monday, also makes an impact with a style that’s subtle and minimalist. Songs like “Girlfriend” and “Porcelain” are intensely personal tales that probe the sad, painful side of romance.

Large stretches of the show allowed you to wallow in unrelieved gloom. But it wasn’t an unpleasant experience. Fordham is like one of those old-fashioned torch singers from the ‘20s and ‘30s who could make those tear-drenched songs very appealing.

Though backed by a five-piece band in the 90-minute show, she sang some songs accompanied by just piano--in the classic torch-singer mode. The most distinctive aspect of her style is her ability to flit up and down her range in the course of one phrase, from her brawny lower register to those crystal-clear highs.

Her best song was one of her encore numbers, “Happy Ever After.” Despite the title, it’s not, of course, a happy tune.