The Wailin' Jennys

No DepressionBy Kim RuehlI love the Wailin' Jennys, and this record - from the first few notes - plays to all the things that make this trio so lovable. Beautiful, intuitive but rich harmonies, simple instrumentation, shockingly personal lyrics... indeed, the record begins with the lyrics, "I have failed you...but I love you." Ouch. I think.

This isn't going to be a mind-changing album for anyone. It doesn't reach in under-explored directions. There's nothing about these songs, at least at first listen, which could be called "artistically surprising" (something I admittedly tend to seek out). But, the songs are just pretty. The vocals are just beautiful, and the instrumentation is just hypnotizing at times (pedal steel on "All the Stars"). Sixth song test..."Mona Louise" is a beautiful love song. "I'm gonna sing, til my feet turn blue / I'll sing loud enough to go through / the mountains to you..." In fact, this record is so lovely, it might put you right to sleep. Row out to the middle of a lake and put these songs in your earbuds. There's that much solace here.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

www.beat-surrender.com - UKBy SimonBright Morning Stars is the fourth album to come from this incredibly talented trio, the Wailin’ Jennys were formed after a chance meeting for a one-off in store performance at a guitar shop in Winnipeg, Manitoba, back 2004 they released their first full-length album 40 Days which won them a Juno Award for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year, the follow up Firecracker was equally well received spending over a year on the Billboard bluegrass charts, with the departure of Annabelle Chvostek New York based Heather Masse joined the group to record Bright Morning Stars under the close eye of producer Mark Howard (credits include Bob Dylan and Lucinda Williams) who has done a wonderful job in capturing the vocals subtleties of the trio and allowing the voices to shine individually and of course in perfect harmony.The album features four original songs from each member Ruth Moody (vocals, guitar, accordion, banjo) Nicky Mehta (vocals, guitar,ukulele) and Heather Masse (vocals, upright bass) and a stellar a capella version of the traditional Appalachian hymn and title track Bright Morning Stars, you know your ears are in for a treat from the start with the beautiful harmonies on Swing Low Aim High the opening number and the quality doesn’t drop of one iota as the songs of love, loss and yearning are delivered in a variety of styles, the trio adopt gospel mode for Storm Comin’ , a more traditional folk on Across the Sea and a little jazz for Cherry Blossom Love, as good as the voices and production are you’ve got to have the songs too and the trio are all equally gifted on that front penning some memorable numbers, Nicky’s four edge out Ruth and Heather’s for me and I’ve picked my favourite to share.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

www.soundblab.com - UKWhat is clear to most of us now is that folk is once again popular, surging to the surface to bask in the glow of musical acclaim. Anybody can have a go, whether you're British, American or otherwise. A steady stream of artists have once again made folk cool. The Wailin' Jennys join this stream with their latest effort.What you need is something unique, something to set you apart from the growing trend, to hold you aloft of your brethren. Mumford & Sons have an outstretched ache, while The Low Anthem specialise in gospel tinged, downtrodden songs. The Wailin' Jennys are more of a breeze in sound and slightly more puritanical lyrically. You can imagine them brushing their hands through the heads of wheat as they harmonise vocals, wandering in fields. 'Swing Low Sail High' is a pop opener perfectly crafted for the radio: "Setting sun don't sink before I found my heart". Don't be fooled though, these women can do the foreboding sound as well, proven by 'Storm Comin' and 'What Has Been Done'. The country which is spread through the record is squarely set in America, out on the porch and in the small towns, like country songs of old.For some, these songs might be too clean cut, lacking in any kind of grit or dirt to get your teeth into. What is for sure is that these are well-crafted songs, most of all in the melody but also in their hushed musical sound. Whether they can penetrate the mainstream with what is a basic and well-trodden formula is where the uncertainty lies.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

www.forfolkssake.com - UKBy Paul KellnerThe Wailin Jennys’ Bright Morning Stars is of the utmost quality, but requires a little time to take root in one’s mind. The harmonies are perfect, the dynamics are truly moving, and every track thoughtfully arranged. This being said, it is an album that must be savoured, and thus, may take multi-tasking listeners a few rounds before they find their connection to it. It is not hard to imagine that the Jennys harmonies take a bit of focused attention to achieve, and the enjoyment of Bright Morning Stars requires the same.The production quality of the album is superb. From start to finish the sound is crisp with just a touch of wonderment-adding studio enhancements. Added instrumentation is simple and appropriate—the solo in ‘Storm Comin’’ comes right in time and the horns on ‘Last Goodbye’ give the final track the stateliness it deserves.‘Mona Louise’ will leave a lasting impression. It is a song that has all the earmarks of a song that would be gratifying using a number of arrangements. The reverb and twang of the Wailin’ Jennys version nicely complements the rest of the album, but, after listening, one may be inspired to wonder what a good pop band or tenor singer-songwriter’s interpretations of ‘Mona Louise’ would yield. This song may very well have a number of incarnations in the future.As said earlier, Bright Morning Stars is to be savoured, and so the listener would do well be patient through the down-tempo middle portion of the album. The final tracks, ‘You Are Here’ and ‘Last Goodbye’ emerge as lucid, rousing songs that give the album a sense of completion. Yet another superb effort by the Wailin’ Jennys.

The Trio Turn in Their Most Polished Disc to Date

www.americana-uk.com - UKBy Keith HargreavesFive years in the making, Bright Morning Stars is a highly anticipated follow up to the Jenny’s 2006 offering ‘Firecracker’. Expanding on the broad palette of that disc, BMS opens with the understated soul of ‘Swing Low Sail High’ and then steps out into the glorious space that inhabits track 2 ‘All The Stars’ – a wistful delicate hymn that delights as much in what is not heard as what is.A gorgeously plucked ukulele providing a mysterious and entrancing musical bed; Track 3 continues the delicacy and sense of restraint. ‘Bird song’ sees the girls wrapping their harmonies and vocal circle games round the perfectly produced notes. There is passion and melancholy here in spades. These girls sing with a precision that belies the depth of emotion coursing through the songs. Even the flat out gospel lite of ‘Storm Comin’’ has that vocal clarity that is a trademark of this album. The listener can pick out each singer and follow her vocal line throughout the song.The title track is highlight with it’s acapella take on an Appalachian hymn. This really is like hearing clear water spilling down a mountainside. Pure and unadulterated. This may not be on the radar for many Americana fans but this reviewer would urge you to listen. If you do; you will hear something beautiful.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

www.whisperinandhollerin.comBy Martin RaybouldI've had more than my fair share of grief in the past for my fondness for 'wailin' women'.There is, I recognise, a breed of female bluegrass and/or folk singers with voices are very much an acquired taste. I'm thinking of artists like Iris Dement, Victoria Williams or Hazel Dickens.It would, however, be significantly easier to 'sell' this Canadian trio particularly as it turns out that their name is a pun on country icon Waylon Jennings rather than a statement about their singing style.These three women based in Winnipeg, Manitoba produce such dulcet tones that they will surely melt the hearts of even the most prejudiced listeners.This is the third album by the Jennys each of which feature Ruth Moody and Nicky Mehta. The third member has changed with each release and this time round she is New York based singer Heather Masse.This threesome democratically alternate the song writing credits and lead vocal responsibilities with four songs apiece.Moody and Mehta both play acoustic guitar as well as accordion/banjo and ukulele respectively. Heather Masse just sings. A dozen musicians are also credited with backing instruments but the arrangements are kept simple and their contribution is rightly understated to give prominence to the vocals.Much credit here must go down to producer, Mark Howard, who draws upon vast experience with the likes Lucinda Williams, Tom Waits, Emmylou Harris and Bob Dylan.Howard recognises that nothing should detract from the gorgeous harmonies and his production brings out the complimentary sound of soprano (Moody), mezzo (Mehta) and alto (Masse)to perfection.The album centrepiece is the three way a capella title track which has strong echoes of Alison Krauss' baptism song , Down To The River To Pray, from the soundtrack to Oh Brother Where Art Thou.Ruth Moody's atmospheric 'Storm Comin' and Nicky Mehta's What Has Been Done and Last Goodbye are other songs that stood out for me.These are mellow folk-blues songs with a strong sentimental lilt with a line like "open wide your wounded heart, feel yourself be blown part" from All The Stars is typical of the strong romantic mood.The melodies are so soothing that, perversely, I almost wished for a few blemishes (real wailing?) to give a little extra edge but there's no getting away from the fact that this is an exceptional album which is full of warmth and grace.8/10 Stars.

The Wailin' Jennys - Bright Morning Stars

The Daily Mirror - UKThe third original album from the New York/Canadian trio is an intoxicating blend mixing heartbreak, cross-patterned harmonies, classical, jazz and Celtic folk.  Shine on.4 Stars.

Album Review - The Wailin' Jennys "Bright Morning Stars"

Yahoo! Associated ContentBy Jonathan SandersIf you're looking for the next great crossover folk album, look no further than the Wailin' Jenny's Bright Morning Stars. The album, from Winnipeg, Manitoba's Juno-award winning folk combo, is one of the finest folk albums to come out in years, blending classic Americana songwriting with a tinge of early Dixie Chicks styled harmonics, and it's the kind of album which plays so cohesively from start to finish it will dare you not to listen repeatedly.The word "crossover" was made for the album's opening track, "Swing Low, Sail High," which country radio programmers should be frothing at the mouth to give airplay to. It's a beautifully melodic piece of harmony-based songwriting, with a lyric that moves from heartbreak to salvation in four minutes. "Setting sun don't weep for all the things you lose, morning comes as sure as it must die" soprano Ruth Moody sings late in the song, and it's heartbreaking and redeeming at the same time in its simplicity.The trio's musicianship is sublime. Each track smartly layers instruments constructively, in that nothing ever overpowers. Each element plays into the whole to help fuel the overall melodic structure, even down to the multi-layered background vocals which rarely miss the mark. All this is put on full and stunning display on the album's central track, "Bright Morning Stars," a public-domain folk melody which has been performed notably in the past by Emmylou Harris, among many others. The Wailin' Jennys do the song in pure, beautiful a cappella, layering their vocals to form a haunting, ethereal core to the album.The remaining songs on the album orbit this center, creating a radiant whole which shines like the stars of the album's title. Rarely does a vocal trio shine so brightly in almost every aspect of their performances on a full album, and they deserve to receive wider exposure beyond the borders of Manitoba. No one else in Americana-based folk music is crafting original songs this haunting and inviting, which makes Bright Morning Stars stand out all the more.Bright Morning Stars is currently charting at #12 on Billboard's Folk Albums chart and at #4 on the Bluegrass chart. Wouldn't it be great, though, if the album were to catch on with fans of general country? In a world where Taylor Swift is a worldwide superstar bringing pop music to so called "traditional" country stations, it's about time real roots music made a comeback. This album is the most deserving so far of 2011 to get that shot.