Jes Perry: Press

Granted, I'm a little afraid of appearing mature, but this is some seriously sweet, adult-contemporary, white-bread, love-struck stuff that works unreasonably well, and not just "for what it is." One reason is the songwriting, particularly some arresting chord changes, which never sound deliberately thrown in just to be arresting, which very few folks can pull off. Another reason is Perry's voice. Sometimes you don't WANT the jagged, been-through-the-wringer thing. Kinda like Lucinda Williams if all she drank was milk, but it's enough here. Another reason is, yeah, she's a babe. Before you get offended, remember that it's always been fine for women to like musicians under such purely selfish pretense. (Hey, the first time I heard Rita Coolidge, I wouldn't have cared if she looked like Chris Farley. I was there, bay-bay!). Okay, it doesn't ACTUALLY affect my opinion here, but it sure doesn't fuckin' hurt. And I was set to let it go at that, but then something really wrong happened. A stunningly effective voice-and-piano piece surfaced as a hidden track. I'd go so far as to call it career-making. It's that strong, all by itself, and I heard it by ACCIDENT. Let that be a lesson to anyone who still thinks that kinda shit is cute.