- MusicTap (8/30/2004) by Matt Rowe

- The Boston Phoenix (Sept 3-9, 2004) by Eliot Wilder

- Billboard Review of Careless Love (Sept 17)

- Madeleine Peyroux received rave reviews for her 1996 debut album Dreamland, particularly for her smoky, Billie Holiday-influenced vocals. Eight years later, she’s finally back with her second album, and it finds her stretching out a bit musically – along with covering vintage chestnuts from the likes of W.C. Handy, Hank Williams and Gene Austin, she masterfully interprets songs from more modern songwriters like Leonard Cohen, Bob Dylan and Elliott Smith. And even with all the impressive covers, she contributes one of the album’s highlights: “Don’t Wait Too Long,” a bluesy roots-pop tune she co-wrote with Norah Jones band member Jesse Harris and producer Larry Klein. The album features tastefully understated production, and her vocal style remains as intoxicating as ever.

by Don Yates (8/26/2004) from KEPX Seattle

- Among Bob Dylan’s manifold song­writing assets is his work’s vulnerability to interpretation — what other American icon has had his writing edited for public consciousness by the likes of Manfred Mann and Peter, Paul and Mary? Recently, collections have been issued featuring Dylan covers by country; gospel and reggae artists. But perhaps the shrewdest present-day reading of a Dylan song is by the Paris-bred torch singer Madeleine Peyroux, who here transforms “You’re Gonna Make Me Lonesome When You Go” into a sultry ballad that seems to predate the original by 30 years. Dragging the song to a sleepy crawl, Peyroux ignores the false joy with which Dylan himself has approached the number and instead reinforces his words with a rueful croon that reflects her debt to Billie Holiday.

This is Peyroux’s first album since her 1996 debut, Dreamland. It was an untimely hiatus: While she was sleeping, Norah Jones drew a fan base roughly the size of planet Earth by performing in a similarly modest style that teeters between pop and jazz. Peyroux is more of a traditionalist. Whether reworking W.C. Handy or Elliott Smith, she draws on jazz singers from way back, generally surfacing with resourceful adaptations. Yet nothing rivals the Dylan cover, which deserves the highest honor for this minigenre: May it play at Starbucks for years to come.

by Jay Ruttenberg from the Thu, Sep. 16 TimeOut New York Album Reviews

- LIGHT A TORCH: Many have tried to emulate the languid, conversational yet also sensual aura of Billie Holiday. But the artist who really brings it home is Madeleine Peyroux, back after a long hiatus with ""Careless Love"" (Rounder) produced by Larry Klein (Joni Mitchell, Shawn Colvin.) Repertoire ranges from Hank Williams' ""Weary Blues"" to Leonard Cohen's ""Dance Me to the End of Love.""B+"

from the Tue, Sep. 14 Philadelphia Daily News

- MADELEINE PEYROUX A vocalist who emerged in the mid-90's from singing in the New Orleans streets, Ms. Peyroux could inhabit Billie Holiday and Edith Piaf, doing the tragic, pinched-voice thing perfectly. She still can and does — that little voice remains somehow central to her — but on ""Careless Love,"" her first album in eight years, she enlarges and updates the repertory, wading into the Elliott Smith and Jesse Harris catalogs. Tuesday. Rounder. (She performs at Le Jazz au Bar, 41 East 58th Street, Sept. 20-25.)

from the Sun, Sep. 12 New York Times Arts & Leisure section