Karen Jonas’s sixth LP, is heralded as ”a dark alt-country exploration of vulnerability. and she calls it “a collection of dreamy, raw, romantic, and ill-fated stories.
The album is less obviously country orientated than some of her previous records and a track like We Could Be Lovers reveals the strong influence of Joni Mitchell. There are confessional and cathartic aspects to most of the songs but Jonas concedes: “Sometimes it’s hard to unpack where the narrator and I begin and end.” For example, the death by drowning in the atmospheric Rock The Boat may be a reference to suicidal tendencies or murderous intentions but, equally, it may also be about neither.
In the sensual piano ballad Lay Me Down, Jonas sings “This isn’t gonna be a casual romance” yet she is seemingly resigned to the possibility of things ending in heartbreak. (The album closes with an acoustic version of the same song).
In keeping with the romantic mood, two songs, Paris Breeze and Elegantly Wasted, focus on trysts in the French capital. Sober thoughts follow a night of lovemaking for the latter: “will you still love me in the morning?”
A nostalgia for the innocence of first love (Forever) combines with more worldly, even slightly seedy, insights into relationships in other tunes. The Breakdown finds the singer hiding in the frozen food aisle of a grocery, spying on the ex-wife of a partner and she is drowning her sorrows in Throw Me To the Wolves after yet another broken heart: “go find someone new / the stars always said / I wasn’t meant for you.”
Affairs of the heart are so dominant that the outside world doesn’t get much of a look in. Nevertheless, the playful swing number That’s Not My Dream Couch alludes to the #metoo movement and Justin Townes Earle’s untimely early death is the inspiration for Drunken Dreamer
Long-time guitarist and musical partner Tim Bray, bassist and co-producer Seth Morrissey, drummer Seth Brown, plus multi-instrumentalist Jay Starling all help Karen Jonas realise this mature and engaging set of songs.
