Jennings - Collapse, Collide

Jennings - Collapse, Collide
2011, Mary Jennings

New York City-based singer/songwriter (Mary) Jennings returns on May 10, 2011 with her third album, Collapse, Collide.  Jennings has spent much of the past year touring and working with Billboard-charting songwriters to further develop her sense of song craft.  These efforts are apparent on Collapse, Collide, although, as always, with growth comes growing pains.

Collapse, Collide opens with "Surrender", an electro-ethereal pop number that falls somewhere between Sarah McLachlan and Sara Bareilles.  Jennings' distinctive voice is on display here, although it seems as if she never really opens it up.  It's a solid starter, but without the sort of dynamism you might expect.  "The Darkness" is in similar territory, but shows much better realization and execution of what Jennings might have foreseen when writing the song.  Centered on a solid groove, Jennings builds around an original progression that serves as a natural focus for her muse.  "Everlong" is a plus love ballad, although it sounds like Jennings may have chosen a key too low.  She appears to struggle with the bottom of the melody line at times, with pitch being the casualty. 

"Falling Higher" is a great tune with a lot of potential.   Jennings is spot-on in this love song, but the production is a bit messy and at times, distracting.  Jennings offers herself as support to loved one in "Cling To Me", a well-intended and well-written tune that just doesn't become itself in execution.  This isn't so much an artistic issue as a production one.  "U-Turns" is a vibrant pop number with real potential that once again falters on the boards.  The remainder of the album is solid yet uninspiring contemporary adult contemporary alternative rock music that is nicely slotted for radio consideration but fails to live up to what Jennings is capable of.

Collapse/Collide would be a solid effort from many artists, but Mary Jennings has made a point of cutting her own path through the emotional hinterlands that have defined her previous work.  Jennings' move to the commercial center is somewhat befuddling, as she seems to surrender her own voice for a quasi-corporate conception of what she should sound like.  Jennings is a distinctive enough talent to make it work as best she might, but hard core Jennings fans won't know what to do with Collapse, Collide.  Chalk it up to an artist going through the growing pains of how to commercialize their art in a meaningful way without giving up the spirit that got her this far.  The compromises here are too many, and the production is too messy to allow Jennings to emerge from Collapse/Collide. 

Rating: 2.5 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Jennings at www.jennings-music.com or www.facebook.com/jenningsfemtastic.  Collapse, Collide drops on May 10, 2011.  Pre-orders are available through Amazon.com on CD and as a Download.  Preorders are also available via iTunes.

Andy Budd – Ragtop Monterey

Andy Budd – Ragtop Monterey
2011, Red Bush Records

Folk/Americana singer/songwriter Andy Budd is relatively known, but perhaps not for long.  Budd’s third album, Ragtop Monterey, finds Budd blending a delicate songwriting touch and great musicianship, while raising the bar with his impressive previous work.  There are no prolonged solos or flashy sounds, just good old fashioned songwriting with a Nashville sound that hasn’t been heard on commercial radio in decades.

Ragtop Monterey opens with the old school train song "Old Freight", an escapist fantasy in traditional country fashion with bluegrass accents in the arrangement.  Budd has a workingman's voice; not pretty, per se, but with a comfortably gruff sound that lends authenticity to the performance.  "If You Did That Today" is a catchy tune highlighting the differences between the child rearing philosophies of today compared to those of a generation or two ago.  Many of today's taboos were thought perfectly normal thirty or forty years ago, like smoking during pregnancy to riding in the back of a car without a seatbelt; things that would result in a CPS referral nowadays.  Budd's song is tongue-in-cheek, but may also leave you wondering about the sanity of such bureaucratic efforts.

"Don't Bother Calling" is a humble kiss off from a jilted lover.  She cheated on him, and he's telling her to get lost in heartfelt, articulate terms.  The arrangement is solid, but it's Budd's lyrics that really grab your attention here, "With a bullet in every chamber you played lover's roulette.  It's hard to forgive and even harder to forget."  "Ragtop Monterey" is a love song to a car his grandmother once owned, captured in a catchy, country arrangement.  This is a fun one that will appeal to the car buffs out there.  "Time Won't Do It" is a woeful heartbreaker skeptical of healing powers of time, particularly when it comes to heartbreak.  The classic country arrangement is a treat, and the chorus is inescapable.  "Bread Upon The Waters" is a catchy number exhorting listeners to live the good life but not take more than their fare share.  It's a great tune with a powerful-yet-simple message that's worth being reminded of. 

"He's Still Missing Her" is a tongue-in-cheek tune about one man's dogged determination to get rid of his sweetheart, "He's still missing her but his aim is getting better..."  Budd throws these comical curveballs once in a while just to make sure you're awake, but even if the lyrics are occasionally full of whimsy the music is deadly serious and well constructed.  "Ol' Work Truck" is full of reminiscence over a friend who has seen him through thick and thin.  The truck in question becomes a symbol of American Pride and the connection between generations of working class men; a love song and a memory of what America once was.  Budd heads back to the honky-tonk for "Baa Baa Black Sheep", a catchy number about himself and his sister and their roles as the family black sheep.  Budd once again shows a gift for turns of phrase with lines like "The two of us lived up to daddy's fears and mama's tears."  Budd closes with "Godspeed", a sweet memorial to a friend who has finally given up the fight but who fought like few others.  If you've lost someone you love dearly recently, or if the loss is still fresh in your heart, this song will be a tear-jerker.  It's an honest and heartfelt piece of songwriting that leaves pieces of itself embedded in your psyche.

Andy Budd is a great story-teller with a healthy dose of wit thrown in.  Ragtop Monterey is the sort of album you'll find yourself hitting repeat on again and again.  Budd blossoms under the steady hand of producer Chip Hardy (Waylon Jennings, Reba McEntyre, George Strait), and delivers ten songs that will get stuck in your brain and stay around long enough to petition for rights.  You'll find yourself more and more engrossed with Ragtop Monterey, and Andy Budd, with each listen.

Rating: 4 Stars (Out of 5)

Learn more about Andy Budd at www.andybudd-usa.com.  Ragtop Monterey is available from Amazon.com as a CD or Download.  The album is also available digitally via iTunes.