Album Review: Jade Turner - Breathe

 

www.jadeturnermusic.com

For independent evolving artists seeking growth, impact needs to be strong and straight to the point. On a third album positioned to accrue fresh international recognition, Jade Turner has instinctively created a record instantly luring the listener into repeat plays from a prominent pole introduction. BREATHE blends powerful strains of big sound country pop rock with a subtler retro golden lining to embolden writing true to the personal spirit of plying song with sincere emotion. We are all grown up to know ‘Americana music’ transcends the land of 50 states, so Manitoba-based Turner can curate a small niche of a wide reaching movement to evoke a generational bonding of Faith Hill meets Morgan Wade.

An awful lot is packed into a tight 35-minute running time with perhaps the jury out on opening the album via a short untitled instrumental segment. Within a minute, a rocked up inspiring anthem brings a powerful vocalist to the fore. ‘That Wind’ is lyrically packed with sound advice as sonically you are taken back to the turn of the century vibes of Reba/Martina/Faith where country crossed over with credence. Themes of self-care, wise advice and mooted reflection thread through the ten songs with the album’s cyclical nature culminating in resurgent closer ‘Deadweight’ heralding a return to a powerful tone with a person now in control. 

Two further tracks fuelling the initial spark of the album’s impact include the ‘be true to yourself’ pop country gold of ‘Stay Wild Child’ and tub thumping bursts emanating from ‘Taking it Easy’, where once again we are wonderfully tossed back to a golden era. Turner, a proud Canadian with an indigenous heritage, has nailed one half of a defining musical persona with a strong twist just around the corner.

Those partial to a more traditional country sound are sure to be smitten with a quartet of gems embedded deep into the album’s soulful interior. Leading the way is the utterly divine ‘Slow Dance’, a sure fire candidate to grace many a playlist and linger long after an album’s early drive has waned a little. This corker of a track is dripping in melodic gold, rolling out as a pensive duet with two voices finding common ground in a pursuit of fragile love. Turner and her duet partner Sebastian Gaskin melt hearts amidst magical pedal steel. This track is paired so well with the next in line ‘We Said Yes’, a song tinged with regret capturing the heart of what the writing appears to want to achieve. Turner sums up her writing hopes in “The album is a therapy session for me. I don’t normally talk about my vulnerabilities, but this is my way of talking about it - by singing it.” Listeners will concur on the effectivity of such an approach.

This wonderful quartet in the second half continues with a classic feel to ‘Wandering Soul’ and a pukka acoustic backdrop to your archetypal break up song in ‘You’re Only Nice When I’m Leaving’. Two stellar additions to those won over by smart understated songs acting as an antidote to a polar brashness. 

The two final tracks under scrutiny are paired in the first half with title song ‘Breathe’ being one of the slower offerings with a delightful melody in a pre-chorus segment. A hushed number with a clear message to oneself. ‘Marion’ is one of those beautifully constructed story songs maybe taking its cue from ‘Jolene’ in accepting that sometimes you have to accept defeat. While wrapped in the pop rock coating, this song lamenting lost love scores highly when assessing the album’s overall worth.

Jade Turner will turn ears when BREATHE finds the right homes. She has filtered sufficient help in writing and production to ensure her own endeavours reach anticipated heights. Guitar blasts make it generic; bouts of twang are more specific. Intertwined with prime songs generates an album of substance. Breathe was also the title of one of the crossover giants from a generation ago and this mid 2020s namesake takes some of the pop country gloss spicing it up with a trad seasoning and stellar writing harnessing the core of human emotion. Ripe for that Canadian cultural knack of promoting astutely to overseas fans.

Gig Review: Demi Marriner - Thimblemill Library, Smethwick. Friday 13th December 2024

 

There is something quite special about Thimblemill Library as a gig venue, and Demi Marriner wholly concurs. On multiple occasions, she gushed about the unique surroundings and thoroughly enjoyed her first performance on its adaptable stage. Look up and ahead to see a piercing night sky flood through the arc of windows. Look straight up to catch a sight of multiple quirky light shades adding fine touches to the art decor. Look all around and packed book shelves provide a cultural backdrop to the welcome frequent invasion of nighttime music. This arts hotbed at a junction where outer city issues blend into phases of vibrant suburbia epitomises everything innovative about grassroots venues mixing and matching multiple diverse events adding buoyancy to a thriving operation.

For the second week running, tickets for the music side of the Thimblemill offering poured out to around the three figure mark. It was a tough road getting people back to live music especially as weekends tend to be the preferred time here where so many alternative pursuits compete. Strong hopes remain for a prosperous future, although music will always have to find its place among theatre and directed community engagement events vital for funding streams. No doubt submissions to play far outweigh capacity, so the chosen few can wallow a little in flexing their creative artistry in such an in-demand setting. This will always fall in line with the importance of core daily library activities. 

Demi Marriner has previously found Birmingham a welcoming place to play music. The audience for this show just over the border in Sandwell was swelled by many fans fully conversant in her music. This set the scene for a successful evening where she strode to share a lengthy bunch of songs along a timeline of past, current and future records. While the flickering to and fro was a touch difficult to follow at times, there was clear evidence of an artist in a rich productive vein of creating music anchored by the meaningful song. Stories interspersed a raft of mainly full band backed numbers lifting the decibels considerably higher than your usual library gig sounds. Feel good end of year vibes embraced the levels attained and compliments morphed into a lengthy merch queue snapping up goodies unique to gig goers. 

The music of Demi Marriner is malleable enough to find ears in country pop, hardened Americana and eclectic folk circles. She is certainly working hard to polish her craft and now has a secure base to preserve and nurture. There was clear mutual love from many in attendance. Working with Joe Coombs (electric and acoustic guitar), Scott Warman (electric and stand up bass) and Gary Kroll (drums) possesses considerable benefits and their influential presence adds layers to songs rinsed in personal feelings and experiences. 

For this, and a few other shows on the tour, Sean Duggan from Steady Habits has played the opening slot. This solo format sheds a different light on a performer strong in seeking an identity. Coincidentally, both featured artists share the exhilarating talents of Joe Coombs in their band. Mind you several Stateside touring artists turn to his guitar skills, notably Sara Petite in the past and Carter Sampson coming up for 2025. The latter is scheduled to play a band show at Thimblemill Library in March next year.

It was almost the curtain call on music events for 2024 at the venue when the encore song finished. A local band has the honour of closing the year next week and a tough act following Demi Marriner as a fitting finale. The real winner is a flourishing grassroots venue and many music fans leaving their armchairs to seek out new and familiar artists during the year. Demi Marriner will also concur to their importance.