Jeneen Terrana - See The Light

Jeneen Terrana – See The Light
2011, Bitesized Records

Jeneen Terrana is an integral part of the Long Island City, NY music scene.  A distinctive songwriter with flair, Terrana has been comfortable with her local status but has the talent to play much larger stages.  Terrana debuted in 2002 with Just Me, a highly personal collection of originals that showed a raw talent just beginning to come into its own.  Terrana’s 2008 follow-up effort, My Creation, featured the inspired instrumental work of The Howl Brothers, and won critical acclaim from multiple outlets, including being branded a Wildy’s World Certified Desert Island Disc.  Terrana returns in 2011 with See The Light, a more mature and airy effort than her previous two albums.

See The Light opens with “Benny’s In My Head”, a folk ballad with a soulful slant.  This is Terrana’s internal dialogue over the battle between heart and mind when finding herself suddenly in the midst of love.  This is a great piece of songwriting; Terrana has crafted a great arrangement that stays enough in the background to allow the story of the song to play out unfettered.  “I Laid It On Him” is a foxy bit of urban gospel blending jazz with a folk/storyteller pastiche.  The song is incredibly catchy with an almost swing feel to it at times.  “Raise Your Voice” encourages children to speak up from their well of idealism about the world; encouraging them to not be borne down by the cynicism of the world around them.  The song is well-written, and Terrana performs it with heart.  There is one moment, on the highest note of the song, where the vocals come off a bit shrill, but otherwise the performance is flawless.

“All Of You” is written from the midst of true, deep and abiding love; it’s an invitation to join her and be immersed in its waters.  Terrana calls on her heritage, infusing shades of an Italian folk style here.  “I’ll Always Be With You” brings a sort of Baroque musical theater feel to the table.  While the song itself is a love song in a fairly common style, Terrana breathes pleasant life into the genre.  “See The Light” and “At School” are solid album tracks that lead into the splendid songwriting that makes up “God, I Need Comfort”.  Terrana’s representation of one side of a dialogue or prayer is intriguing; full of dark, Mediterranean influences.  Terrana explores the darker side of self and the constant battle to be better than we really are.  The composition is gorgeous, with amazing harmony vocals.  “Never Go” is another meditation on love; on her desire for love to stay as it is forever.  See The Light closes out with “Time”, a gentle plea to time itself to slow down for her.  Terrana keeps things simple, allowing the simple beauty of the melody and the unbridled angst of the lyrics to shine.  It’s a stunning closer.

Jeneen Terrana shows a lot of musical maturity on See The Light while exploring the happier countenance of love.  She doesn’t get entirely way from the darker aspects of humanity, and often her best songwriting comes from those darker places, but See The Light is a strong transitional album.  It doesn’t have quite the urgent energy of her previous work, but shows an artist struggling to come to terms with her deeper self.  Terrana is a top-notch songwriting, and her voice is enthralling.  And while there are a couple of slow spots here, this is the album Terrana had to make next to continue to grow creatively and as a performer.  See The Light is highly recommended listening.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Jeneen Terrana at www.jeneenterrana.com or www.myspace.com/jeneenterrana.   See The Light is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  Digital copies are also available from iTunes.

Over The Rhine – The Long Surrender

Over The Rhine – The Long Surrender
2011, Great Speckled Dog/Over The Rhine

It’s been twenty years since Over The Rhine took their first steps toward becoming darling of the alt-folk scene.  What started out as a quarter has been whittled down to husband and wife team Linford Detweiler (piano/guitar/bass) and Karin Berqquist (vocals/guitar).  While the sense of ambience present on albums such as Till We Have Faces (1991), Good Dog, Bad Dog (2000) and Ohio (2003) may have faded some with the passage of time, Over The Rhine’s new album The Long Surrender  displays an intimate and integral sound that is compelling.  The Long Surrender will be available of February 8, 2011.

The Long Surrender opens with “The Sharpest Blade”, a slowly meandering folk/rock recitative with mid torch qualities.  Gorgeous, sorrowful and heartfelt, Berqquist makes the most of the vocal line.  It’s a stunning beginning.  “Rave On” has a quiet, impassioned urgency.  Berqquist is at her most emotive in a song with a timeless feel.  There’s a sense of a universal theme here that’s perhaps just beyond the listener’s reach; unchangeable in form but vibrant in force.  “Soon” is deeply melancholy, perhaps even morbidly blue.  The darkness of the arrangement and Berqquist’s voice is fascinating.  “Undamned” is a gorgeous oil painting in music pondering the saving grace of love.  Written from the perspective of a lost, broken soul suddenly wrapped in, and saved by love, the realization dawns on her that she is worth saving.  The unmistakable mark of humanity here is vibrant and tangible.

“Infamous Love Song” is pure torch; a love song of broken souls.  Detweiler and Berqquist have composed a mini masterpiece here; you nearly see the speakeasy coalesce around you as Over The Rhine begin to play, and sense the waves of sorrow and desperation wafting forth from the patrons therein.  The song is amazing: needful and powerful and full of a lonely grace that will refuse to let you go.  “Oh Yeah By The Way” explores the words left unsaid after heartbreak sets in.  This one’s a vocal duet, and captures the love, pain and regret in a stellar bit of songwriting that is likewise unforgettable.  “The King Knows How” is a stylish, bluesy number with a sultry feel that drops references to Elvis Presley and Hank Williams.  The song is a bit opaque perhaps, but is entertaining with a sense of surreal sensuality. 

“There’s A Bluebird In My Heart goes back to the bluesy torch sound, perhaps not quite as successfully as before.  Berqquist continues to excel on the vocal lines, but something about this one doesn’t quite click.  “Days Like This” is more ambient in nature, a dreamy folk/pop number that’s ethereally pretty.  “All My Favorite People” opens with what might be the best opening line to a pop song ever.  “All my favorite people are broken…” launches an exploration of the beauty of the shades of grey that envelope our lives over time.  The depth and maturity of the songwriting here is nothing less than stunning, and Berqquist shows a depth and presence the likes of which are generally the mark of a consummate performer.  Detweiler also shows off with a healthy dose of Ray Charles-style piano licks.  The Long Surrender closes with “Unspoken” is a brief piano-based instrumental epilogue with country accoutrements.    Saxophone takes the lead on the melody line in a pretty closer that sounds like the end credits to a film.

Over The Rhine just keeps getting better with time, and The Long Surrender is their most intimate and compelling work to date.  Karin Berqquist could sing the Cleveland phone book in the middle of Times Square and draw an audience, and Linford Detweiler shows an almost preternatural ability to build arrangements that fit her voice perfectly.  There are a couple of slow moments on The Long Surrender, but on balance it’s hard to imagine The Long Surrender not ending up on a number of year-end lists for 2011.

Rating: 4.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Over The Rhine at www.overtherhine.com or www.myspace.com/overtherhine.  The Long Surrender drops on February 8, 2011.  The album can be pre-ordered from Amazon as a CD, on Vinyl or as a Download.