Jenn Grant “Echoes” Review

Quite popular in her native Canada, but little known ’round these parts, Ottawa’s Jenn Grant challenges the potentially limiting “folky female singer/songwriter” categorization and lends it a soulful, old-timey charm. While she does happen to be a girl with her guitar and a sack full of life-lessons, the arrangements on her sophomore album Echoes are decidedly un-modern in a way that comes across as authentic rather than messy, and actually quite comforting overall. In a move somewhat popular among musicians, Grant and her collaborators retreated to a secluded cabin to help the album come to life; recording the tracks live lends them the real breath of the place, as the slick confines of a traditional studio seem foreign and uninviting in their context.

This grasp at a sense of the real is something that Grant is familiar with in more ways than one. Again, while her guitar folk could come ripe with cliche, the songs feel far from it as lyrics dense with pastoral imagery and the stuff of fables carefully weave in the tale of a relationship’s end. This angle is achieved not by careful calculation, but by Grant’s own confession, an outright accident. Only in listening back to initial recordings did she realize she’d penned a “breakup album,” and hence had unintentionally achieved an angle so sincere that it doesn’t fall into the trap of fashioned emotion or clumsy reiteration. Rather, Echoes successfully mimics the emotional whirlwind of a confused lover as it bounces through ups, downs, and strange lulls where the only sound is the wind.

The album successfully balances stark, languid numbers and moments that are jumpy and bright. Grant is aided immensely by her charming accompaniment, be it the subtle tempo of a shaker, dramatic strings, or the often-present bass clarinet the plods along like a forest creature. Her voice is the front runner though, displaying a clear ability of range while imbuing each track with emotion—she can sound serious and alone, or giddy like a child who has just discovered something fantastic. The hint of sustained youth in combination with the allusions to nature create a slight Joanna Newsom similarity, but more dead-on is the amount to which Grant sounds like Emilíana Torrini. The two share vocal inflections as if they were something you could lend or borrow, and inhabit the same aural spot between juvenile and adult.

Opener “Heartbreaker,” though timid and haunting, has a slight swing tempo and plenty of room for Grant to coo through declarations of bad decisions of the romantic kind. The mysterious and somewhat ominous bass clarinet that creeps in between the vocal lines is both soothing and foreboding, as if suggesting one should be wary of what seems right. It’s unclear whether Grant is thinking aloud through lessons learned, or apologizing profusely to a failed relationship. A tempo change near the end of the track picks up the momentum, suggesting a brighter future with jubilant piano plinks, so it seems at least there’s some room for optimism.

[photo by Ivan Otis via Jenn Grant]

“Where Are You Now” is a bare, tear-jerking number which follows a simple structure that allows Grant’s voice to explore the confusions of love. It begins with her voice sitting high above subtle guitar strums, with a bit of pretty vocal layering coming in on the chorus to lift her up. Soon a weeping violin appears along with a glistening, slide-guitar-mimicking keyboard part, both of which provide heart-breaking a landscape for some of Echoes‘ best vocal explorations.

Ranking among the most fun songs is “Parachutes,” a number that begins as a glance into Grant’s window with descriptions of a simple domestic scene that then, of course, digs a little deeper. Simple and comforting with a bit of angelic vocal accompaniment, it soon changes gears into a tambourine shakin’ do-op full of let-loose embellishments from Grant and a flurry of hand claps. “(I’ve Got) The Two of You” is an adorable little ditty with layered close harmonies taking over the verse as a zippy xylophone cranks out the cuteness. Thanking her parents for giving her the world, Grant shows off some pop chops as the track bounces along in shameless fun.

Jenn Grant takes her “must hear” voice beyond the clutches of obscurity by leaning onto traditions of the past for backup. She possesses a seemingly wise soul that an older generation could easily appreciate, while Echoes packs in details for younger music nerds to drool over. Then again, sometimes the most warming part of a new talent is vocal prowess itself, and she certainly has that one down. That cabin in the woods of hers envelops the details and makes the album feel like home.

[Review by guest contributor Liz Levine.]

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