The utterly brilliant 1930s jazz singers, the untrained voices, of Lotte Lenya and Billie Holiday, convey more than the sum of the parts, and all depict the noir sentiments perfectly:

• There are no winners
• Futile revenge
• Corruptable protagonists
• The misery of the human condition
• Revelling in the senses
• Obessive love
• and much, much more

Here’s the young Lotte Lenya Singing “Seeräuber Jenny” (Pirate Jenny) 1931, in German, of course. Listen for her use of the word ‘Hoopla!’ on 2:39.

And Billie Holiday & Lester Young – Me, Myself And I (1937). Billie sings the word, ‘Me’ with some feeling on 1:50, and with increasing feeling towards the end. Just brilliant.

I’m on the lookout for more to add to this list.