The Wailin' Jennys • Fifteen
 critic is supposed to be objective
no matter the subject, but when it comes to the Wailin’ Jennys, I pretty much fail.
The minute their tightly knit three-part harmonies hit my eardrums, I’m a misty-eyed
fool. Even though the group’s members -- Heather Masse, Nicky Mehta and Ruth Moody --
are not related, their combined voices produce that unique synergy you usually only hear
when siblings harmonize. Fifteen, the Jennys' fourth studio album, should impress
anyone who appreciates how powerful a simple, straightforward vocal recording can be.
For this outing, their first new album in six years, the Jennys have carefully chosen deep tracks from the folk, pop and country-music canons. Anyone can sing someone else’s tunes, but it requires exceptional talent to dig deeper and deliver important elements that were always there but hiding just below the surface of the original version. The Jennys manage to pull off that magic trick on just about every one of Fifteen’s nine songs. The best example of this artistry can be heard on fellow Canadian Jane Siberry’s "The Valley." The song begins with a gently strumming guitar and brooding viola that introduce Nicky’s Mehta’s deep, honeyed voice intoning the song’s first line. Sam Howard’s swelling bass lines and Adam Dobres’s subtle electric-guitar intonations serve as a particularly effective bridge to Heather Masse’s crystalline high notes in the second line. Ruth Moody then steps dramatically out of a completely different place in the expansive soundstage with her muscular delivery of the stanza’s third line. Finally, all three join in a soaring harmony that swirls to the rafters. Combined with Siberry’s haunting, introspective lyrics about the meaning of commitment and friendship, this is a performance that deserves to be heard on a fine audio system. The trio's intimate a cappella work on Dolly Parton’s "Light of a Clear Blue Morning" captures sunrise in the Smoky Mountains better than a picture ever could. Their decision to dispense with instrumental accompaniment on Paul Simon’s "Loves Me Like a Rock" reminds the listener that Simon’s deepest musical roots go all the way back to the doo-wop corners of New York City. Their snapping fingers and stomping feet drive home the fact that all music began in the fields or around a campfire. The production of this disc matches the extremely high
bar set by all of the Jennys’ previous releases. Canadian producer/musician Joby
Baker, who helmed a number of the Cowboy Junkies’ recent projects, handles
engineering and mastering duties. His approach is to capture the full resonance of the
trio’s voices, place instruments ever so slightly out of the spotlight and give these
amazing women plenty of room to move. The result is a pure sound that is very much like
being present at the actual recording session, and I cannot offer higher praise for
recorded music than that. |
