Soulful and bluesy
July 2nd sees the release of a soulful, sad tale in the form of four tracks from glamorous star Lisa Lindley-Jones. From her name alone, you sense an unintentional hunger for fame. I can see it now. Lisa Lindley Jones sends all kinds of images through my head. Fantasy no doubt- but marriage perhaps to a top rock star and somehow managing to remain the dignified woman her name portrays her as- a wife who writes good music and sells double the amount of records her moderately famous husband does, but still allows him to believe he wears the indie tight trousers. And that's Lindley-Jones- well in name form. The EP? On first listen- unfortunately, not so alluring.
The Brightonian, who stopped off at London for a while, actually originating from Stockholm, is another solo female singer/songwriter- entering an overcrowded genre without an endearing Winehouse personality or Polly Paulusma heartache case. A hot fiery red head from all over the shop has presented us with four romanticised, inventive and pleasant tunes. 'Killing Song' and 'Lazy' are the better of the four- searching within the listener asking questions of real meaning, scraping at the core.
She's really quite good, independent and bluesy, yet perhaps a little too small town Cafe for the mainstream and 'Lazy' comes as close to charts as she is gonna get. The album sleeve could be to blame for this less than optimistic evaluation. As with Patrick Cleandenim, perhaps you are wanting too much from the artist, due to the quality and the focus on the artwork. I was expecting an awesome EP, one I could play to all my friends and not one would disagree with my recommendation. Instead- I have received an enjoyable, pleasing CD, a case of all this build up and just not enough substance- similar in so many cases to England football team performances. Many female acts have created an aura of mystery around their work- such as Bjork, Imogen Heap and Nellie Mackay. Lindley-Jones manages to do this but perhaps lacks the quirky traits that the above and fellow Swedish acts such as Indie band the Sound possess.
'Lazy' is by far my favourite- a fantastic, emotional understanding of the frustration love can provide. The dissatisfaction and laziness love can cause, how the little things you used to enjoy so much, instead become a burden of your time. This is a wonderful dramatisation of annoyance, dissatisfaction and exasperation. She's calling out for savior from her indifference- a beautiful way to end the EP that I was falling out of love with in a steep hill kinda way.
Lisa was due to be touring the UK this August but it appears that these dates have been cancelled. She's an impressive artist- one I would definitely add to my CD collection, just not quite as good as I was hoping for. The attractive soloist has perhaps more potential then she is revealing. The fragility of her vocals and the immense structure of her lyrics allow me to ask more of her. 'White Shadow' is possibly only a silhouette of what we can look forward to with later releases.