Artist – Jenny Colquitt
Album – Something Beautiful
Released – 26th November 2021
Reviewer – Tony Higginson, Beyond Books
I was introduced to Jenny at the British Music Experience last year at an event hosted by Calum Gilligan, who is a family friend and superb musician and member of Limerance. Jenny was one of 4 showcased acts and all of them were excellent, I already knew Calum obviously and Motel Sundown through another friend Karen Turley. Jenny and the other solo act, Greg Oldfield were new to me, both were truly excellent.
I had taken my son Matty, he’s a swing singer and pianist and now a guitarist himself and I felt him seeing and hearing how solo acts perform and manage their stage was a good idea. It was a treat to buy him Jenny’s 2 EP’s they are superb and quite different from her solo guitar/voice performance we saw. Her use of piano and a few keyboard effects was an eyeopener, or rather ear opener!
We both really loved what we heard and when she was signing Matty’s CDs she mentioned she was launching her debut album in Liverpool soon. I immediately booked tickets! Sadly Matty was away in Carlisle where his girlfriend is studying drama so couldn’t come, so I went and had a tremendous evening seeing her fabulous support in Meg Shaw and her little ensemble was also a treat.
The Jacaranda is quite a bijou live venue, wide but not too deep, so everyone sees and hears, and the sound was excellent. Jenny was superb, her stories of her songs and her own views on life and its complications and how you deal with it and how you keep your mental wellbeing in the fore was a truly inspirational thing.
Before I even say anything about the actual album, I must say- Jenny has a superb voice live and she and her band played superbly, it was quite a night and also a full house!
Dirty Town was a highlight for me and on the CD it is the first single and first track, a lovely blend of piano and voice with swirling drums and lifts from the guitar and her voice just floating effortlessly through her range, she says it’s not about Widnes, and maybe it’s about every little small town that is neglected a little, like all of her songs it is well written, superbly sung and the band are excellent. It quietens down with This Side, she really emotes and the empathy of feelings is shared, lovely heartfelt poetry and a nod to Ed Sheeran too she says. Her lyric, ‘I’m only happy when I’m sad’ is one I can resonate with. Acoustic song writing at its emotive best.
Same Old Story is a truly exceptional lift, a perspective piece, reflecting on everyday life and its reliance on technology. Showcases Jenny’s power in her delivery of her words, haunting and also somewhat cinematic. 1964 is her throwback moment, written from a fictional older voice. A look at the pre cursor to permissiveness and freedom, much to say about how quickly things changed, Jenny has a wise head on young shoulders. The harmonica really adds to it too, very sub Dylan!
Shape is a more pop thing, lovely melody on the piano, very of the Tori Amos type, lovely echoey mix. And then the rhythm hits and it’s relentlessly good, lifts and for me a single ready for mass exposure. God the Father was a highlight live and on the CD is also, her ease of playing a melody and matching it with an emotion in her lyric and voice is exceptional. A look at religion without needing belief, perhaps we all have had religion in the past, perhaps it isn’t really a patriarchy. The cello really makes a difference.
Little Boy Blue starts with a hum of harmonica akin to a Springsteen ode and a strum and a whisper of voice, it builds beautifully and is as dreamlike as it’s ideology. A nod to Everton FC too. How do you feel? Dates from before the CD was forming, so one of her more confident live pieces, truly mesmerising, a look at how we end up single maybe but also how to refine how we relate to another. A great build up of sound and her voice just shimmers.
Poetry of You is another quieter reflective piece, simple and sparse but so effective in plaintive voice and piano and very Tori as she was live. Then the anger comes, and it really works, lovely writing, it is worth saying Jenny’s lyrics would read well too. ‘I saved a part of me for you’ is such a line! I am Yours, another lament and lovely too, although it’s about addiction and the pain that throbs inside, whatever that addiction is, and it’s not drugs here. Lovely piano again and a vocal delivery worthy of any power balladeer. Jenny really deserves to be heard.
You are Loved, is a reflective piece about her mum! What a choir they created cleverly too. Very much a song that grows with every listen. We end with the eponymous album track, Something Beautiful and we are left replaying the whole CD a few times, a sign of significant success in producing a masterpiece at the 1st attempt. What a way to end a record and it was a single but needs rereleasing now. The spoken intro and simple piano is pure self and so honest, once this enters the power push of the production you are taken on a journey to dance and sing along, something we all need so much.
I’d happily give this album 10/10 and add extra for the fact it was written and recorded in such difficult times. I just hope everyone we all know gets to hear it and spreads the love. Jenny is well worth being a fan of, and she loves meeting her fans, which we can still do and I hope so once she is a much bigger star.
Tony Higginson
© 2021 Liverpool Acoustic
Something Beautiful is available to buy from Bandcamp and all good online digital music platforms.
Jenny Colquitt
Jenny is currently on a headline winter tour, with dates in Bracknell, Stoke, Leeds and Liverpool. Tickets for all of these shows can be bought via the links on her website jennycolquitt.co.uk
