In the Wee Small Hours...

...is very much an album for the wee small hours. A pean to lost love, each song a melancholy slice of the singer's broken heart. Sinatra's voice is perfect for this collection of ballads. That voice sits atop Riddle's blue arrangements delivered by small ensemble strings, a rhythm section and Bill Miller's piano. The listener experiences a lover desperately grasping after what has passed in what was the first classic concept album.

What lonely hours, with memories lingering
Like faded flowers, life can't mean anything
When your lover has gone