Iowa debut | Boise-born and
Boston-based, Eilen Jewell is a rising
star in a new generation of American roots musicians. Her first two albums,
Boundary County (2006) and Letters from Sinners and Strangers
(Signature Sounds, 2007) were astonishingly assured efforts that matched
Jewell’s understated songs with a rugged blend of Americana styles. They
were met with wide acclaim, including No Depression raving that
“Jewell is showing she can wander with the best of them, and write riveting
song-stories about her adventures along the way.” Indicative of her strong
following in Europe, The Word in the UK described Jewell as “a voice
of real distinction [that] manages to transcend some powerful influences and
pierce the fog long enough for her own point of view to emerge.”
This spring, Signature Sounds released Eilen’s third album, Sea of Tears,
a recording that fills in a vital, hitherto missing element of her musical
persona. “Before I discovered Woody Guthrie and folk music,” she explains,
“I was listening to Elvis Presley, Buddy Holly, and, later on, the Animals
and the Kinks. I love that stuff, and I love to play it.”
With Sea of Tears, Jewell and her longtime band of Jason Beek (drums,
harmony vocals), Jerry Miller (electric, acoustic, and steel guitars), and
Johnny Sciascia (upright bass) wed her elegantly unflinching songwriting
with a rustic, pre-Beatles swagger that encapsulates vintage R&B, Midwestern
garage rock, Chicago blues, and early rock and rockabilly, while maintaining
the haunting, folk-inspired purity that first made her an artist to watch.
Iowa-based music writer Jim Musser called Sea of Tears “a haunting,
utterly seductive visit to the dark side of the soul and one of the most
unique and satisfying albums of the year.” Another reviewer wondered “if
this is what Dusty Springfield would have sounded like if she recording for
Sun Records.”
The title track wraps a bitter, confrontational missive in a sinuous, sultry
groove punctuated by Miller’s slashing guitar. In the role of a woman
ignored, Jewell doesn’t howl —
she looks the object of her affection
straight in the eye and plainly, firmly states that without him, “It’s gonna
be a sea of tears for me / It’s gonna be a life of misery.”
In contrast to the title track’s seething rhythmic undercurrent, “Nowhere in
No Time” (a song Jewell has been carrying with her for years, but is just
now being heard) rides a gently swinging country beat, rendered with the
minimalist clarity of a Sun Records country 45.
Alongside Jewell’s own songs are three covers that suggest the inspiration behind Sea of Tears. “I’m Gonna Dress in
Black” is a churning lament gleaned from Van Morrison’s Them, who recorded
it in 1965. Loretta Lynn’s “Darkest Day” is a classic honky-tonk
stomp by one of Jewell’s biggest influences. Most intriguing, however, is a
version of the British rock n' roll standard “Shakin’ All Over.” Rarely
tackled by female singers, Eilen Jewell’s clattering, simmering version is both
sensual and ominous.
