A Brand New Me in Bloomington, MN

Producers
Nick Patrick
and
Don Reedman
spearheaded
If I Can Dream
, the 2015 album that paired old
Elvis Presley
recordings with new overdubs from
the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra
.
turned into something of an international sensation, spawning a pair of sequels from
Elvis
and opening the door for similar sets, such as 2017's
A Brand New Me
, where
Patrick
Reedman
pair
the Royal Philharmonic
with
Aretha Franklin
. Unlike
,
Aretha
is alive and well in 2017, but the producers choose to dress up
Franklin
's classic
Atlantic
recordings in a manner similar to what they did with
. Comparatively, it's not quite as sticky as
Presley
, who had a wealth of schlocky middle-of-the-road material to use as a foundation, but that means
feels even more intrusive, offering unnecessary strings to recordings that were already sublime. Furthermore, the whole concept of the record is a bit off-putting: it's as if the producers were eager to create a posthumous
album while she's still alive. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine