Compliments don't come much higher than this: legendary singer/songwriter Bob Dylan is a fan of Imelda May.
The 75-year-old American performer is regarded as a musical genius, and has been a major influence on popular culture since he made a breakthrough as a folk singer back in the early 1960s.
In an interview on his website, bobdylan.com, coinciding with the imminent release of his latest album, Triplicate, a triple album consisting of classic American songs, he was asked if he had heard any good records lately.
"Iggy Pop’s Après, that’s a good record," he said. "Imelda May, I like her. Valerie June, The Stereophonics. I like Willie Nelson and Norah Jones’ album with Wynton Marsalis, the Ray Charles tribute record. I liked Amy Winehouse’s last record."
Triplicate is Dylan's third album of standards in a row. The previous compilations, Shadows in the Night and Fallen Angels, left him with a sense of unfinished business.
"I did when I realised there was more to it than I thought, that both of those records together only were part of the picture, so we went ahead and did these," he said.
The album contains thirty standards, ranging from As Time Goes By (from the film Casablanca) to jazz standard Stormy Weather, Cole Porter's These Foolish Things and Stardust by Hoagy Carmichael.
On the collection, Dylan said: "It’s better that they come out at the same time because thematically they are interconnected, one is the sequel to the other and each one resolves the previous one."
Triplicate will be released on March 31.
