Have updated my Pentland Ferries review after travelling on their new catamaran car ferry in July. T...
Have updated my Pentland Ferries review after travelling on their new catamaran car ferry in July. Thanks to everyone who put me "in the red"!
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CD Review: Jess Klein – “Draw Them Near” (2000)
Jess Klein – not exactly a household name, is she?
No, sadly she isn’t. For your delectation and amusement, I’ve trawled through my extensive CD trove to find Jess Klein’s third solo album, 2000’s “Draw Them Near”, a little-known but very likeable piece of Americana. Whilst she’s labelled as a folk artist, her work veers more towards the alt-country and rock genres, her strong and forthright voice supported by plenty of bold and yet sympathetic electric guitars. Whilst this album doesn’t necessarily contain enough to make it one of my top 20 favourite CDs, there’s still quite a bit to enjoy – and since Jess sounds uncannily like Suzanna Hoffs from The Bangles at times, she’s won me over straight away!
Born in Brooklyn in 1974, Jess Klein started playing the acoustic guitar and writing songs whilst living and studying in Jamaica during her late teens – a somewhat unexpected turn of events for someone who originally wanted to be a ballerina. Supportive comments for material she performed at a local music session on the island greatly inspired her to return to the States, where she moved to Boston and started writing and performing properly. She released her first two albums, 1996’s “Flattery (Songs 1993-1995)” and 1998’s “Wishes Well Disguised”, plus the five-track EP “12 Hour Dream”, independently, then was signed to the Rykodisc label after being awarded several Boston Music Award nominations – her first disc for them being 2000’s “Draw Them Near”. A further CD on Rykodisc followed in 2005, “Strawberry Lover”, then “City Garden” a year later, the latter comprising songs with a much more roots-orientated sound. Now living in Austin, Texas, she is currently composing material for her seventh solo album.
Draw Them Near
2000 saw the release of Jess Klein’s first CD for Rykodisc and her third in total – “Draw Them Near” receiving plenty of critical acclaim and even a reasonable review in “USA Today”, with Ryko’s head labelling her the “anti-Britney Spears” due to the artist being completely un-manufactured. Whilst she’d tried to escape the “little girl voice” shackles she’d displayed on “Wishes Well Disguised” and the “girl with just an acoustic guitar” motif, Jess couldn’t or wouldn’t entirely abandon her similarities to the likes of Suzanna Hoffs or Stevie Nicks, nor record the new disc without at least some production work – echoes of all three being heard throughout the album. Not that this is a bad thing, you understand – in fact it’s quite a charming end product. She’s injected enough of her old self into “Draw Them Near” to count, but blended this with a fairly diverse range of influences and styles (roots, rock ‘n’ roll, gospel and blues included), these being evident during even the most cursory of listens. Jess isn’t afraid to let rip either – more than one track benefits from her expressive vocals. She managed to obtain the services of Wilco’s drummer,
Ken Coomer, and even Ryko’s then president George Howard, who not only produced this album, but also appears on guitar, marimba and percussion. Howard appears to have lent a deft hand to his production values, since the finished product seems largely bereft of outside interference – always the hallmark of something that’s going to be good.
Like Emm Gryner’s “Public”, which I reviewed a couple of weeks ago, Jess Klein’s album didn’t really hit me with any perceivable impact when I first obtained it last year. In fact, I wasn’t particularly fond of the songs I heard at the time – admittedly I had only listened to the first couple and even then it wasn’t too enthusiastically. Clearly there was something wrong with my ears, my brain or both (!) – my sense of what sounded “right” had obviously deserted me because I picked out this CD on a whim a couple of weeks ago and after hearing those same first two songs, I wondered why I wasn’t listening to Jess Klein more often. Since then I must have heard the album three times all the way through and have ordered a copy of her follow-up, “Strawberry Lover” – sound evidence that I’m now fond of this artist. My risk-taking in terms of buying albums by obscure artists continues to pay off handsomely – either I’m struck dumb by them straight away or their CDs are put away for a year or two until I’m able to appreciate them properly!
Track Listing
There are twelve tracks on “Draw Them Near”:
01. Little White Dove 02. Goodbye, Goodbye 03. Ireland 04. Cloud Song 05. Love Is Where You Find It 06. Song For An Angel 07. I Tried 08. I Sure Would 09. Springtime 10. Open Me 11. I’ll Be Alright 12. Draw Them Near
Little White Dove
“You’ve been bit by a mean old crow Carried your heart, carried your heart Off in his beak So what’s in your mouth, baby? C’mon, talk to me”
Second time around, as soon as I heard the spiralling, echoey dobro intro to “Little White Dove”, I knew I’d been wrong in my initial assessment of this album. Yes, there’s something of an old-school country feel to the opening but it’s a fleeting sensation. Once Jess Klein’s vocals kicked in, there was no going back to my earlier reaction – she’s got the chirpiness of Emmylou, that soulful, bluesy tang that belongs to Bonnie Raitt, the harmony of Suzanna Hoffs and it’s all dressed up in the simple but dreamy world that Stevie Nicks inhabits, whilst there’s also a traditional feel to her outpourings. Her slightly nasal, slightly husky twang is simply the icing on the cake – that and the little bit of gravel she’s got stuck down her throat too. Taking this altogether, Jess is vibrant, expressive and a perfect foil for the accompaniment which wisely never seems to develop beyond that guitar – yet still manages to come across as totally fresh and original. She sounds raw in places and refined in others, giving the song a genuine feel to it throughout. It’s a chirpy little song, thoroughly entertaining and a delightful introduction to Jess Klein as an artist. How the hell did I miss this first time around?
Goodbye, Goodbye
“You don’t know when I’m true or false Maybe I secretly feel set free Maybe you took the load off me”
Jess Klein seems to draw inspiration from many different sources and the same is true when trying to compare her with other artists – “Goodbye, Goodbye” sees her abandoning the more traditionally-flavoured alt-country tropes of the opening track and taking on a much more purposeful, rocking tone. Here, Jess sounds like a cross between Suzanna Hoffs and Stevie Nicks, the arrangement being straight-up rock but interlaced with gospel undertones. Clearly her attempt to put plenty of daylight between the style of her last album and this one didn’t meet with total success – but since she still sounds great, why tinker with a winning formula? In a change from the opener, her vocals are flatter during the first verses but Coomer’s enthusiastic drumming makes up any shortfall, the latter providing one of the essential elements of the song. Jess finally picks things up in a big way in the choruses – her self-levelling harmony probably offending the purists but it sounds completely at home here, whilst the guitars really come into their own during the break. Maybe it is a little home-spun but this is truly enjoyable without being totally over-produced – there’s a raw edge to Jess Klein which is quite refreshing in today’s manufactured pop-princesses world.
Ireland
“Rained down by wine, circled ‘round by smoke All you talk about is where you would go When you look at me Do you love this world yet? Or do you see how much better it could get?”
Some say this is where Jess sounds most like Suzanna Hoffs, but I’m inclined to believe that she’s more like Sandra McCracken, especially in terms of how the arrangement melds with her voice – that and she is a lot less hard-edged here. During the first chorus she is uncannily similar to McCracken, whilst the accompanying lead-in to the second verse could easily be lifted from one of the songs on the latter’s “Best Laid Plans” CD. That’s some compliment, though – Jess comes across here as a much more mature artist, relying on the subtle nuances in her laid-back vocals to balance the deficit in terms of power. It’s not without a few hints of what she’s capable of, mind you, but the whole song is simply restrained and all the better for this. I spend so much time concentrating on her voice whilst listening to “Ireland” that the backing seems almost incidental – the warm guitars providing sympathetic accompaniment and little else, not that it’s needed – this is a song where the vocals are everything.
Cloud Song
“Said one cloud to the next How nice that we can rain On the ground it seems they let Water wash away their pain”
We’re firmly back in Suzanna Hoffs and Stevie Nicks territory on “Cloud Song”, another slower, sleepier number that lets Jess show off her incredibly expressive “little girl” vocals. The simplicity of this song is just breathtaking – totally laid-back acoustic and electric guitars from Brad Jones and Will Kimbrough take turns and then join together to accompany her, Ken Coomer’s drums stirring lazily in the background. Everything – including Jess herself – is low-key and slow-paced, an effortless four minutes’ worth of relaxing material that sounds so intimate, it’s as though she and the band are performing “Cloud Song” in your lounge.
Love Is Where You Find It
“I went for a walk to lose my disease I heard a little voice say ‘look up at the trees’ I couldn’t really tell you what happened But a slow smile came over me”
There’s a complete turn-around on this track, which scores on numerous levels. First, you’ve got Jess and her slightly husky, very soulful delivery, which sounds even more expressive here. Secondly, there’s an absolute killer arrangement which draws from several sources – gospel, seventies’ kitsch and blues to name three – all sewn together with a splendid little underground hook during the choruses that benefits from jazzy organs plus some deliciously blaring horns courtesy of Jim Hoke. It sounds oddly reminiscent of something Stax Records would have put out in the early seventies – a moving, diversely influenced and energetically performed piece of music – there’s a “big” sound here that belies the lack of production. It’s also a song that I just want to put on “repeat” again and again – Jess seems just so enthusiastic throughout that it’s a joy to listen to.
Song For An Angel
“So I step outside Let the snowflakes melt upon my face My true love’s tears Someday I’ll catch them with this much grace”
“Song For An Angel” brings the tempo of the CD right back down to “sleeper” once more – a beautifully rendered and sung number that echoes the talents of Sandra McCracken in terms of delivery again. The intro rolls in very slowly, almost unnoticed, before Jess pipes in with the start of some wonderfully lazy yet obviously more nasal vocals. I’m in no way criticising her voice, but this facet of her voice comes across as more pronounced on the slower numbers. “Song For An Angel” feels almost as if a lullaby had been sneaked into the track listing without anyone noticing. Ultimately, however, it’s a little too much of a sleeper – possibly so much so that it just doesn’t stick in the memory enough afterwards.
I Tried
“Bail me out, baby I’m not meant for this prison cell So I fought for him How could I know he’d brought it on himself?”
Guitars take prominence in the intro and you know that Jess is going to have to raise her game again on “I Tried” – which she does with relish. The arrangement seems a little jumbled – little breaks and hidden leads to the choruses – but it’s all resolved in the end, carried off with plenty of enthusiasm, Jess leading the way courtesy of her absolutely uplifting vocals. She’s probably having to display virtually all of her range here, from low right through to high, and notes being carried along towards their use-by date, but it’s strangely seamless and unforced – at odds a little with what is certainly the most-produced song so far on the album, yet one that has a certain “live” feel about it. One thing is for sure, though – “I Tried” is one of the best songs I’ve heard written by Jess Klein.
I Sure Would
This sounds like a statement set to music – it’s totally at odds with everything else on this CD and apparently caused a little controversy with her fans who were more accustomed to the homely “girl with a guitar in a coffee shop” sensibilities they’d come to appreciate. Jess is definitely in “angry young woman” mode here – it’s a two-and-a-half minute rant in the best sense of the word. A true bump and grind, her raw-edged, spat-out vocals seem totally out of kilter together with the equally stark drum loop. Jess has explained the reason behind “I Sure Would” – it’s decidedly erotic. She told a local newspaper reporter once that she “had this unending sexual tension with one person that was going nowhere and driving me nuts” – thus the idea for the song. Yes, it’s completely out of character for those who have heard her other material – I’ll bet it drove some of her fans absolutely nuts.
Don’t worry though: the rest of the album reverts to normal service afterwards – with the highlight for me being “I’ll Be Alright”.
Inlay
Full lyrics for all twelve tracks are included, along with several photos of the artist, on the fold-out four-page sheet inlay.
Conclusion
Not for the first time this year I’ve returned to a CD that I had initially dismissed out of hand last year on acquisition. I find that some albums need a bit of exposure to gel with me, that they’re slow burners and require either some breathing space or repeated listening for me to finally “get” them. “Draw Them Near” definitely falls into the “breathing space” category – a year down the line, I put the disc in the player and when “Little White Dove” started, I suddenly wondered why I’d given up on Jess Klein so soon.
She’s got a truly distinctive and expressive voice – yes, I may have compared her to a whole range of artists that I admire, but in the end Jess has her own style and it’s one that works well. Although she has been pigeonholed in the acoustic folk end of the market, she’s been brave enough to reach outside this niche for inspiration, the album benefitting all the more for this. Clearly George Howard of Rykodisc saw something in Jess Klein’s music that he liked – so much that he ended up helping her out two-fold on her first project for his label. In the end, though, what makes this CD so special is the seeming lack of actual production on it – many of the songs feel totally as if she was camped out in my lounge, singing with the bare minimum of accompaniment. It’s this intimacy that provides a memorable connection with the artist, the reason why I now positively love “Draw Them Near”, and what gave me the impetus to go out and order her follow-up, “Strawberry Lover”.
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