I heard about Jenny Colquitt from a post on the Facebook page of Merry Hell, the Wigan collective whose stunning compilation album I have also reviewed tonight. They have appeared together recently, and I took myself off to her Bandcamp page at https://jennycolquitt.bandcamp.com/ and then her extensive website at https://jennycolquitt.co.uk/home
Her latest release is an EP named Lost Animals, and this is my introduction to her music. I will be exploring further because this is something rather special. The narrative accompanying the album states that this work explores being lost as humans and the excitement this can bring at stages of one’s life. It is clearly a very personal musical journey.
Colquitt’s voice is sublime, and her piano work is also top notch. This is a very strong collection of songs which those of you who enjoy the female singer songwriter especially will find much enjoyment from.
The EP opener is I’m Just Lost. I love the lyrics talking about ordinary people not being scared in the face of the wrecking ball of life. The delicate opening is transformed into a wonderful expanse of piano and orchestration two minutes in and from thereon in, the piece is something you are carried along with, and what I find so appealing is the strength and fragility at turns inherent in her voice and writing. It reminds me very strongly of the wonderful Judie Tzuke at the peak of her powers.
Open Pages follows. There are some interesting keyboards and noises against the acoustic guitar and voice. I take this song lyrically as being a reference to the modern fashion of having to “talk things over”, that never ending confessional we must endure. As the track moves into its mid-section there is another very clever change of tempo and intensity. Colquitt can rock, of this there is no doubt, and the ghostly guitar riffs before the close are as good as any I have reviewed this year.
Feel Inside is up next. This vocal is achingly fragile and beautiful. I have embedded this truly lovely song below. Enjoy the voice of a supremely confident songstress and this lyrical emotional rollercoaster of a ride. There is condemnation of lies and how the perpetrators of many ills feel inside. Do they feel remorse? Do they feel guilty?
Paradise is a mournful affair and I think there is a deep story in this track when she sings of there being nothing for her in paradise with such feeling. Is it a breakup? A life-changing event? Whatever is being referenced here, the orchestration rises with the soulful crying catharsis being displayed by Colquitt to create a soundscape which is very powerful.
War is, of course, very much in the forefront of caring people’s minds, with the atrocities being committed by monsters in Ukraine, Sudan, and elsewhere across this fragile world we live in. Soldier of the Modern Day has some gorgeous guitar work. The song, to me, tells a story of the sacrifices which are made by women especially in such dreadful conflicts, with this life killing her inside, and some of the choices sung about remind one of the terrible, shocking events described so many years ago in Sophie’s Choice. It is embedded below. It is gorgeous.
The title track brings up the rear of the EP. We’re all lost animals, and in this modern era of having the entire world available to us at the push of a button, never has this been more apparent because I think we have lost something intrinsic to us as social and local creatures. There is a very good guitar solo in this song, and this is a strong conclusion to a very solid collection of songs.
This is a very enjoyable release and I for one will be hoping there is more to follow from this talented Widnes songstress shortly.