Letters from Sinners And Strangers - Eilen Jewell

If it wasn't for "The Hollow Of Morning" by Gemma Hayes", the candidate for my favourite album purchased during 2008 might well be Eilen Jewell's "Letters From Sinners And Strangers" which was released the year before. Whilst it was firmly on my radar since it was originally put out, I never actually got around to buying the CD until I saw Eilen and her band play at The Band Room in the midst of rural North Yorkshire back ...
...by their performance that night would be a major understatement - I had to have the album there and then and also bought her debut album "Boundary County" at the same time.

Her band lines up as follows: Eilen (rhymes with "Healin'") provides the vocals and plays acoustic guitar, Jason Beek plays drums and percussion, Jerry Miller is the wizard on the electric guitar (and is no slouch with the acoustic variety either), ... more

If it wasn't for "The Hollow Of Morning" by Gemma Hayes", the candidate for my favourite album purchased during 2008 might well be Eilen Jewell's "Letters From Sinners And Strangers" which was released the year before. Whilst it was firmly on my radar since it was originally put out, I never actually got around to buying the CD until I saw Eilen and her band play at The Band Room in the midst of rural North Yorkshire back in August last year. To say I was blown away by their performance that night would be a major understatement - I had to have the album there and then and also bought her debut album "Boundary County" at the same time.

Her band lines up as follows: Eilen (rhymes with "Healin'") provides the vocals and plays acoustic guitar, Jason Beek plays drums and percussion, Jerry Miller is the wizard on the electric guitar (and is no slouch with the acoustic variety either), Johnny Sciascia's forte is the upright bass whilst Daniel Kellar plays the violin on all of the tracks on the album bar two.

Some artists are described as going back to their roots when they release a new album - Eilen has literally grasped her musical roots with both hands and won't let go. Listen to this CD and you're immediately transported back to a time when there were Reds under the bed, James Dean was the pin-up of choice, the space race hadn't got truly started, "I Love Lucy" dominated the TV schedule and cars sported huge "aerodynamic" fins plus lots of chrome - yet many of the songs on the CD are completely brand-new. There's a rocking, rolling mash-up of folk, country, bluegrass and pop here that bewilders, delights and charms in equal measure. Whilst it might evoke the fifties in many ways, this album demonstrates just how Eilen and her band have managed to infuse a contemporary slant into songs that wouldn't otherwise seem out of place in the "Hit Parade" of fifty years ago. There's a timelessness, a simplicity and a great deal of excellent musicianship displayed on this CD, a band at the top of their game. A few artists seem to have this way of taking original songs and giving them an old-time twist, whilst still retaining their contemporary appeal, down to a fine art - Gillian Welch and Madeline Peyroux spring to mind - add Eilen Jewell's name to that list.

I'm nowhere near old enough to remember the 1950s and can't say I'm a huge fan of music from back then (although I do "Listen Again" to Suzi Quatro's Saturday evening Radio 2 show via the station's website), but I absolutely love this album. It could be almost mistaken for a discarded playlist from Bob Dylan's "Theme Time Radio Hour". Put it on the player, though, and time itself seems to lose all meaning - the first time I heard her voice, it was as though I'd known Eilen forever, despite her vocals being completely new and fresh, whilst the arrangements themselves seem to be ones that you've been familiar with for years. All this and you still can't quite believe that she's still less than 30 years of age. I hadn't heard an album that hasn't got a sour note, a part that doesn't quite work or a song that I'm not that fussed about - until this one. There's clearly a knack to achieving this - no doubt much of this comes down to the way the musicians gel with each other - watching them on stage was further evidence of this, and you just knew the CD would be equally worth the effort. Needless to say I wasn't disappointed!

There are twelve rather wonderful tracks on "Letters" - the more observant or knowledgeable souls on Ciao may pick up the three cover versions, before I describe them properly below:

01. Rich Man's World
02. Dusty Boxcar Wall
03. High Shelf Booze
04. Thanks A Lot
05. Heartache Boulevard
06. Too Hot To Sleep
07. Where They Never Say Your Name
08. How Long
09. In The End
10. If You Catch Me Stealing
11. Walking Down The Line
12. Blue Highway

"Well they'll get you for rambling, they'll throw you in the bin, acting like rambling now is some kind of sin" - the CD literally bolts out of the blocks with the rousing "Rich Man's World", an original though traditional-sounding romp complete with Bob Dylan-inspired harmonica and drum-laced intro. There's a familiarity on show here that urges you to stop what you're doing and listen, hints of traditional folk songs being imitated, re-used and re-shaped into this new whole. The intricate percussion and persuasive upright bass inspire confidence from the second the song starts, the guitars keeping way in the background throughout. Romp? It's a pure old-fashioned and ultra-enjoyable stomp, with Eilen's sultry but smooth, rich yet accessible soprano jockeying for top billing along with her two harmonica solos towards the end. The production on this song is so damned good that it sounds as though that it didn't come within a thousand miles of a producer - one of those performances that you'd otherwise believe could only be achieved live. If you're not either trying to sing along with it or tapping an appendage to the hypnotic beat by the end of "Rich Man's World", then you might want to check to see if you still have a pulse. Dismiss this as alt-country music at your peril - it's a retro-sounding, absolutely jumping rockabilly number and totally unashamed of it, what a ride!

"The only two things a gambler needs are a suitcase and a trunk" - the acoustic guitar intro to "Dusty Boxcar Wall" evokes images of hobos riding along on rackety-old train cars due to the thrumming underlying beat, the song itself being a cover of the old Eric Andersen hit, a more shuffling, world-weary, down at heel version in tune with the original subject matter. Eilen sounds so resigned to the fate described about her character in the song that's its impossible not to empathise with her, nor dismiss the effortless fashion in which she brings the song to life. Daniel Kellar's violin provides something just short of light relief as a counterpoint to the backing which perfectly describes the situation the song's protagonist finds herself in, and Jerry Miller begins to stake out his claim to being one of the finest guitarists I've ever heard with some wonderful riffs and a solo that's simply spellbinding.

"A hollow log, a hollow log, sleeping in a hollow log" - "High Shelf Booze" is probably my favourite song among this cracking selection of tunes. What sets it apart from the others (and you could just barely slide a credit card through the differences) is two-fold - namely guest musician Alec Spiegelman's delicious clarinet work throughout, combined with Eilen's gorgeous, bluesy yet equally restrained vocals. The song caresses the ears rather than assaults them, a jaunty little affair that brings a smile to my face and taunts me until I start singing along with it. The clarinet is simply superb - there's no other way to describe it, seeing how it sets the scene immediately in the intro then goes on to underpin the song during its crucial moments. There's no doubt a nod or two to one of Eilen's influences, namely Billie Holiday, in her delivery - someone I can also relate to since I've enjoyed listening to the latter's music on occasions since my teens (I've never particularly followed the crowd in terms of what I want to hear!). Whilst there's plenty going on here with the clarinet, percussion and Eilen upfront, it scores by not trying to pack everything in together - the musicians are given plenty of room to shine individually, and you're able to appreciate their efforts rather than try to separate the wheat from the chaff. I didn't need any excuse to play this song again whilst writing this review - the things I do for the sake of others!

"It seems you like to hurt me, even though I'm good to you" - from my admittedly limited knowledge of 1950s music, I seem to conjure up Patsy Cline when I hear Eilen's fresh take on Charlie Rich's classic "Thanks A Lot". The pace is scaled back somewhat to seemingly just Daniel's violin, Johnny's bass and Eilen's absolutely gorgeous voice - now there's someone I could happily sit and just listen to singing the telephone directory. Here though, she's much more emphasised and even halting in places, thanks to the muted accompaniment, but it works well in the context of the song - managing to turn disappointment and bitterness into vulnerability.

"So pour me a round at the bar, and turn up that steel guitar" - forget Patsy Cline, "Heartache Boulevard" could feature in one of those Doris Day musicals set in the 1950s yet that's only really true of the way that Eilen changes pitch and lifts herself out of the choruses each time. No, this is really a straight-forward bouncy and extremely enjoyable red-hot swing piece, one that motors through its two minutes and thirty-five seconds, driven along using Jerry's insistent guitar and Daniel's provocative violin, the latter whimsical and strutting but never threatening to steal the show from Eilen's deftly-delivered vocals, whilst Johnny even gets his ten seconds of fame with a wonderful demonstration of the upright bass. It's another song where the constituent elements get their own little sections to grab centre-stage - and there's still time to gel together when the arrangement demands. Despite the upbeat arrangement, the lyrics deal with loss, heartbreak and drowning your sorrows - by now typical fare for Eilen's originals.

"You've gone to my head like sweet moonshine" - Jerry Miller's virtuoso performance on the guitar, invoking visions of Tex-Mex tavernas, is the highlight on "Too Hot To Sleep", although he just shades it over Eilen's moody vocals - it's almost too close to call. Another short piece - again around the two-and-a-half minute mark, the song basks in the musical shade, never lifting a virtual eyelid above the seedy bar motif that is conjured up from the start. Alec Spiegelman also pitches in with the bass clarinet to dramatic effect. If further proof is needed that Eilen Jewell doesn't slavishly follow the production line vacuosity of some of today's Americana/folk/roots output, then this supplies it in spades.

"I'm gonna lay my head on some railroad line" - "Where They Never Say Your Name" tells a tale about the darkness Eilen's character reflects on after running away from a broken relationship - the lyric referred to goes onto say "last thing I'll hear is that engine cry" - I've never really heard thoughts of suicide being sung so poetically and sweetly. Sit back and listen to the lyrics - whilst undoubtedly morbid, they're an absolute joy to behold and a further demonstration of Eilen's abilities. Daniel's violin evokes just the right depth of misery in keeping with the subject matter, whilst Jerry's guitar underpins the whole thing in such an understated way that you hardly believe he's there at all.

I'm sitting here typing this with a huge grin on my face after listening to the first half of "Letters From Sinners And Strangers" again - it's so much easier to fall in love with this album than try to justify reasons why you wouldn't want to listen to it. There's seductiveness, an old-world charm and a unique familiarity about it all that simply draws you in - willingly in my case. I'd go onto describe the remaining tracks but I fear I will run out of platitudes and just rehash what I've written above, so I'll leave them for the ear of the interested reader. May I suggest you go onto Eilen's website - http://eilenjewell.com/ and listen to the tracks there - you'll get a good idea what "Heartache Boulevard" and "Rich Man's World" are about straight away.

The CD is presented in a three-part gatefold digi-pack format which doesn't unfortunately include the lyrics (although they are available through the Internet). There are some fairly evocative photos of the mid-West contained on this, though Eilen managed to scrawl all over the cover photo of my CD with a huge message to me following her gig in North Yorkshire - usually you get an unreadable squiggle from an artist but she's almost provided a poem! Maybe she didn't like her own picture!

Eilen's third album, "Sea Of Tears", is due for release in April this year - if it's half as good as "Letters" then I'll be buying it straight away. You don't often come across a truly original yet familiar-sounding band in this business very often nowadays - so this album is something of a treasure, especially as she's not that well known across this side of the Atlantic. I felt like I had to share the CD with everyone I knew to let them appreciate it too - on the whole, there's been a sympathetic reaction. Too many people pigeonhole bands nowadays and don't give them a chance - but don't take a gamble on Eilen Jewell and you risk missing out on something wonderful.

I'm prepared to give this album a "flawless" rating - it's simply that good. 

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