Well, let's go on with my (so far) TOP procrastinated record review of 2023. And it even is a double one! I could have written something about both the album and the 7" long ago, but this is one of those cases, where I had enthusiastically ordered something, but then when I got it, I somehow wasn't in the right mood for it, cast it aside for a while and finally had to be convinced of its quality again.
The last part was actually very easy, but somehow that golden review window just had passed and I moved along to write about... well, everything else I've written here and there since then.
The last part was actually very easy, but somehow that golden review window just had passed and I moved along to write about... well, everything else I've written here and there since then.
JAYE JAYLE - Don't Let Your Love Life Get You Down (Bad Apples and Black Diamonds Edition coloured vinyl LP) (2023)
To be fair Jaye Jayle have always been hard to exactly pin down for me. And until now their mixture of Blues, Ambient, Post Rock, Gothic, Gospel, proggy elements and singer/songwriter Alternative Folk, while certainly enjoyable - like as support for Emma Ruth Rundle in 2018 -, hadn't led me to buy any of their previous albums yet. But something has certainly changed.
That change isn't radical. "Don't Let Your Love Life Get You Down" is still very much tailored around the (mostly) deep and sonorous voice of Evan Patterson. But the music somehow has become more heartfelt and straight forward, while still maintaining a great variety of sounds through the album. Especially the selection of analogue synths is very helpful for that.
In short: Most of the eight songs are just hits! Not party music for sure, but catchy and delightfully dark, with beautiful rays of light. Just try to get the title track or "Tell Me Live" out of your head! A Blues/Country storyteller strides through a graveyard, ascends to space and comes back wiser to tell his tale.
The greatest exception might be the last song "When We Are Dogs", which features guest appearances by Bonnie "Prince" Billy (voocals) and Patrick Shiroishi (saxophone) and is soaked in a laid-back, but quite dark jazzy avantgarde atmosphere reminiscent of Kayo Dot's "Coffins On Io" album. Very ominous!
Needless to say that the unexpectedly colourful artwork is among the most beautiful of Pelagic Records' 2023 releases and also adds an interesting touch to this great work.
That change isn't radical. "Don't Let Your Love Life Get You Down" is still very much tailored around the (mostly) deep and sonorous voice of Evan Patterson. But the music somehow has become more heartfelt and straight forward, while still maintaining a great variety of sounds through the album. Especially the selection of analogue synths is very helpful for that.
In short: Most of the eight songs are just hits! Not party music for sure, but catchy and delightfully dark, with beautiful rays of light. Just try to get the title track or "Tell Me Live" out of your head! A Blues/Country storyteller strides through a graveyard, ascends to space and comes back wiser to tell his tale.
The greatest exception might be the last song "When We Are Dogs", which features guest appearances by Bonnie "Prince" Billy (voocals) and Patrick Shiroishi (saxophone) and is soaked in a laid-back, but quite dark jazzy avantgarde atmosphere reminiscent of Kayo Dot's "Coffins On Io" album. Very ominous!
Needless to say that the unexpectedly colourful artwork is among the most beautiful of Pelagic Records' 2023 releases and also adds an interesting touch to this great work.
Previous to the full-length Jaye Jayle had released a seven inch, which is still available together with the album as a bundle:
JAY JAYLE - The Thing About The Fire (Cream vinyl 7") (2023)
As far as I know this single is only available in this physical format. It features two non-album songs, which both wouldn't feel out of place on it.
On side A we find "Soline", a cool twangy Americana track, counterpointed by just the right amount of lush orchestration.
The B-side "We Storm" combines its singer/songwriter approach with a more eery atmosphere, before closing with a short and sweet, but explosive Blues Rock guitar finale.
Probably not a must-have if you're not a fan, but certainly a nice addendum.
As far as I know this single is only available in this physical format. It features two non-album songs, which both wouldn't feel out of place on it.
On side A we find "Soline", a cool twangy Americana track, counterpointed by just the right amount of lush orchestration.
The B-side "We Storm" combines its singer/songwriter approach with a more eery atmosphere, before closing with a short and sweet, but explosive Blues Rock guitar finale.
Probably not a must-have if you're not a fan, but certainly a nice addendum.
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