 |
| |
|
| |
Album Review
by SashaS
25-4-2005
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Jen Gloeckner: 'Miles Away' - not really |
|
Jen Gloeckner: 'Miles Away'
(One Little Indian)
Jen Gloeckner: imagination without limits
It was predicted - for what it is worth - the other day that women would possess 60 per cent of everything in the not too distant future. Will it be the case with music? Although the ‘gentler gender’ has been oppressed by the industrial demands to conform to stereotype of pretty-and-sexy, the true female individuals in the showbiz are as rare as genuine heroes amidst the male counter-contingent.
Jen Gloeckner emerges from a home studio in Dubuque, Iowa, a place as exciting as it sounds [if you know how to pronounce it] to produce an album that is so out-there, it has no nationality. One thing is for sure, this is an album only a female could make for the simple reason that there is more space to explore than the influence-bogged masculine department.
For most part sparsely orchestrated, it is an intimate affair, a troubadour-ette singing in the privacy of your solitude. Alike in literature, it feels like there is a direct connection between you and the auteuress, no distractions in this holy communion of settings, emotions, imagery. The album reflects the huge, non-light polluted, night sky and the vast horizon seen during the daylight hours…
Jen Gloeckner’s voice is a strong instrument she alternately uses for almost casual, observational delivery and to heartbreaking effect. When piano and string unite toward the end of ‘Seven Maids’, you are transported into a heaven’s anteroom marked ‘Spellbind chamber’. ‘Nothing Personal’ is as huge as a field of dreams, the ‘Only 1’’s outlook as wide-open as oceans’ vistas.
Tempos throughout the record are mid-to-slow - even the most buoyant, ethnic/near-tribal sounding ‘Clear The Sand’ [flute makes it a warped-cousin to an [unlikely] collaboration of Peter Gabriel and Jethro Tull] is restrained in sexualising the vibe, as is the other upbeat track here, ‘Spinning Heads’. Despite it, the overall feel is strangely not melancholic, more like inquisitive, exploratory, novice-like takes on love, life and [nearly] everything.
‘Miles Away’ is appropriate title because she grew up in isolation and hasn’t been contaminated by sonic trends; Jen is a free spirit that draws on the eternal inspiration of Dylan, Joni Mitchell, Tom Waits, Cap. Beefheart… Nothing is sacred and plenty of genres get addressed, from jazz-loungey ‘Glimpse’ with divine saxophone of Bill Rucci is a song to make you, depending on the personal liberty, fall in love or commit adultery, to the sonically adventurous spirit of ‘Prodigal Son’, to the hypnotic-notes rich ‘Mountains’!
‘Seven Maids’ is picked for a single and it is so untypical of the rest of the material that the album will knock off/down everyone’s expectations! Ms Gloeckner will never be groomed to be J-Glo because she proudly stands on the shoulders of giants like Joan Baez, Patti Smith, Tori Amos, Cat Power… We need more female artisans of this 28-year-old bi-racial’s ilk! The album is like ‘kiss-it-better’ medication - it doesn‘t heal but certainly helps!
Jen Gloeckner cult is officially opened for business. She deserves much more!
8.4/10
*
Live date::
Jen Gloeckner plays tonight, 25 April 2005, at Borderline, London
SashaS
25-4-2005
Jen Gloeckner album ‘Miles Away’ is released 25 April 2005 by One Little Indian
|
|
|
