I like the fact that this record exists.
It’s not supposed to. The chosen method of hearing music is streaming. Even downloading, the choice of a few years ago, is sagging, never mind CDs. CDs are supposed to be dead while vinyl, which CDs were supposed to replace, are selling again.
Then, too, the album is regarded as passe. Single tracks or EPs (about four songs) are more digestible.
Steve Jensen’s record is diverse. Not wildly, dramatically diverse but varied. A few years ago, when a record company and its A&R department meant anything, diversity was the enemy. This, it was said, could confuse listeners, or radio at least. Didn’t matter that The Beatles made records of diversity – although the band had a unity and its own sound – the listener wasn’t given credit for intelligence or being able or being able to absorb more than one style.
The result was cookie cutter records. A great first track followed by others that were a variation on the initial sound. No wonder people got bored; no wonder full length albums stopped selling.
Along comes Steve Jensen with nine songs on a CD that actually has variety.
Not great but enjoyable.
Exactly what would make the record great is elusive. Maybe a more unified sound, which is not to knock its variety and would seem hypocritical. Maybe it needs to show more ambition, to be bolder. Instead, the record is modest, Jensen humble. Likeable and earnest rather than aloof or arty.
Listening, then, is an invitation, not a challenge. Fun, too.
Part of the fun is determining different sounds. Via mail, I asked Steve Jensen about this. He’s a typical songwriter in that he (and his producer) are just making a record and not aware of whom they might sound like. To them, such comparisons are unwarranted, but that’s a reviewer’s pitfall. The reviewer hears a lot of records and sometimes imposes this knowledge, casting it as influences that often have nothing to do with the making of the record.
Nonetheless, whether Jensen hears them or knows about them or not, here’s what this reviewer heard. The first song, Pain To My Heart, is hard rock with sparkling lead guitar that has backing vocals reminiscent of late 60s English pop-rock evoking early Traffic. Second song, Domesticity, is minor Paul McCartney, which carries over to Julie My Friend, which is winsome. Wrinkled Suit has a rhythm track and guitar recalling XTC, Really Nice Person returns that winsome voice and is catchy, It’s A Crime starts as a kind of English music hall novelty that gives way to something Jeff Lynne might have done with Idle Race, whereas Promises For Two, which follows, shows some depth and is full of promise. Finally Over has a bit of Led Zeppelin and closer, Walking Back Home, more or less rounds off the album as it started but features sax rather than guitar.
So, yeah, I proposed things that Jensen didn’t know about. His primary influence is The Beatles, natch, and that is a hint to Jensen’s and producer Terry Lafleur’s ‘ motivation. Jensen had some worthwhile songs and Lafleur helped bring them to life. Make no more of it than that.
One other thing that makes the record unpredictable is that Steve Jensen sings the songs in a different voice each time, hard rock abrasive if necessary, those McCartney and Lynne comparisons, that winsomeness. Thus, he subverts the uniformity that often is a hallmark of contemporary records. Uniformity is fine if the singer has a great but malleable voice and is a stylist. Often, though, the record is boring.
It throws the field wide open for a personality to emerge and a style to develop. Should Steve Jensen make another record.
