For Speransa, Izaline Calister did things differently than on her four previous albums. Where she first spent weeks in the rehearsal loft with her band, she now chose to go through the pieces only in the studio. And instead of improvising arrangements, the singer now chose to write out all the music herself in advance. It seems to illustrate Calister's increased self-confidence as a singer /
… songwriter. Calister also kept the production in her own hands, although in preparation she asked for a good conversation with the well-known producer Jacques Ehrhart, who probably gave her a number of tips. Calister calls Speransa her most personal album, 'but I say that about every album I release', she adds on her website in a self-relativizing way. But she is right. On Speransa, Calister shows her proven sound: a highly personal interpretation of CuraƧao music supplemented with some jazz, bossa nova and pop. (PdK)more