Jenny Colquitt's music emboldens strength in independence. She is a musician adept at applying and releasing the handbrake allowing her songs to spring into life at opportune moments. Intensity and mellowness balance on a narrow beam while spinning half a dozen new songs that project a blossoming career into its next phase. LOST ANIMALS is the EP follow up to 2021's exciting debut release SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL. On these new tracks Colquitt cements a powerful identity and turns a fresh light on how power ballads can soar from humble sources.
Smouldering piano leads us into opening track, and lead single, 'I'm Just Lost', which majestically ascends a staircase before delivering a mid-track explosion. Sonically layered and a stirring introduction to this short collection. Just under twenty five minutes later, the lost theme completes a 360 degree turn in the slightly different sounding title track 'Lost Animals'. Things do get a little funky here in the underlying feel that a sense of maturity has levelled out.
The trend to start slow then build up runs deep. 'Open Pages' adopts a haunting sheen in the backbeat that opens before the inevitable ratcheting up. 'Feel Inside' courts a similar style this time shining a light on aesthetic vocals. Colquitt never shies away from exhuming deep in both her song structure and lyrical content. Two traits that serve a singer-songwriter well.
The full sound emanating from this union of Jenny Colquitt and her band solidifies in the prime consistency housed in 'Paradise'. Here guitars join piano upfront and even a little wobble in the vocals gives the record a wave of authenticity. The most curiously titled song on the album is 'Soldier of the Modern Day'. This is a classically controlled track modifying the power ballad trait with an explosive ending conforming to type.
Jenny Colquitt tenaciously fights her corner as a striving artist. Applying the 'show don't tell' songwriting mantra serves her well. LOST ANIMALS is a snapshot of how a songwriter can inject bundles of passion and verve into their music. This EP blooms in the present and sets a scene for future riches to come.
