Sometimes it is almost impossible to decide on which CD is going to be the feature album for the month. And sometimes you know, by the time you get to the second track of an album, that this is IT The Wailin' Jennys
40 Days
Jericho Beach Music
Sometimes it is almost impossible to decide on which CD is going to be the feature album for the month. And sometimes you know, by the time you get to the second track of an album, that this is IT.....
If, by the time you get to the seventh track of an album (in this case a cover of the Neil Young classic, 'Old Man') you are that impressed with an album that you have gone through the turmoil of trying to decide whether you a: just MUST join the band, b: wish you had enough money to strike a distribution deal with the band, or c: marry one of the band members, it is an almost foregone conclusion that (as a more practical option to the above) the album is going to sit rather prominently on your web site as feature album.
I suspect that we (meaning non-musicians, or ex-musicians) are all fans of artists that we most closely associate our own musical ambitions or desires with and although I quite fancy the idea of jamming for hours on end with Gov't Mule, having now been exposed to the collective talents and charms of Luft, Mehta and Moody (and perhaps because, with age, I have become a little more mellow), I quite like the idea of allying myself with the oft melancholic Celtic influenced folk that the Wailin' Jennys have to offer.
Whilst the Jennys are a cohesive entity, the individual members bring diverse talents and capabilities to the collective, undeniably apparent on this, their first full length album, resulting in a breath-taking collection of ambient dynamic tales, sparse but impassioned and finely wrought instrumentation, all of which equally match the now trademark 3 part harmonies. This confluence of individual talents, in what started out as an impromptu one-off project, has resulted in a collection of absolutely stunning folk material and secured the girls a place near the top of the enviable list of Canadian vocal groups currently making waves in the genre (Be Good Tanyas, Po Girl, to name 2).
Uniting classic and contemporary folk with pop, Celtic roots and straight up country, the girls have an alchemy which many groups aspire to, but never conjure. Luft's own contributions to '40 Days' (which include 'Untitled', 'Something To Hold Onto') are somewhat more boisterous and rock orientated than the melancholic trad folk influences reflected in the work of Mehta and Moody, a side of Luft's solo musical ambitions prevalent on her fairly recent 'Tempting The Storm' This combination of 3 diverse backgrounds and personalities is going to be the talk of the decade amongst the folk fraternity - a phenomenon in the making.
Jericho Beach Music is the label arm of the Canadian roots distributor, Festival - and with a flagship album such as this to add to their already impressive catalogue, no doubt we'll be hearing a lot more from both the label and The Wailin' Jennys. From the interest shown in the group at the recent SXSW Conference, this won't be too far into the future - and '40 Days' makes for an impressive resum_