Sarah Jones – Music to My Dreams Record Label: Self-released Release Date: April 2 2014 For the last few years, an emerging DIY (do it yourself) attitude has been emerging within music. Well, that attitude has been around for many years, but only now, has it really been catching on. So many artists and bands are releasing their own music, and doing everything themselves, since record labels arent always the nicest to their rosters. And I wont admit that I listen to plenty of unsigned artists/bands and only liked a band when they had 300 likes on Facebook, I still do support unsigned artists/bands doing what they love. And when I come across one I enjoy, Ill support the heck out of them. One such artist I came across recently is North Carolina singer-songwriter/country artist Sarah Jones. I came across Jones music through Facebook, believe it or not. Ive had luck finding good music through Facebook once before when I came across indie-rock/pop-punk band Of Us Giants through a random Facebook ad promoting their music. I came across Jones, just thanks to a suggested page recommendation, even though none of my friends like her Facebook page. It was odd, but she seemed interesting, so I decided to go onto her Facebook page and see what it was all about. I noticed she uploaded a music video of the track Timing quite recently, so I watched that first. I really liked the song, and even watched/listened to a couple of her ukulele covers on her channel. I posted on her wall, saying that I planned on listening to her debut LP, Music to My Dreams, that came out earlier in the year, and possibly reviewing it. Well, here I am, so I must have gotten a copy to review, right? Youd be correct, so how was the rest of Music to My Dreams? Was this a record of my dreams, or was I let down by the rest of it? Thankfully, the former is how I ultimately feel about this record, at least to some degree. Music to My Dreams is a really enjoyable, fun, catchy, cute, and just a pleasant debut LP, so Im really glad I listened to it. I ordered a signed copy of the LP, and Jones wrote on it that she hoped I loved it. Well, I certainly did, and there are many reasons for it, but lets start with Jones herself, shall we? Shes really fascinating to me, because shes only a year older than I am. For her to record and release a whole record, along with music videos, covers, and all that stuff on her own is very impressive. For being an independent artist doing all of this without a label to back her, its fantastic. And on the record, Jones sounds excellent. She has a very nice voice, even though shes not exactly the best singer Ive ever heard. I do say that in a lot of reviews, but I love her delivery quite a lot. Shes very earnest, honest, and just really sweet. She comes off very sincere and likeable, and thats a very important quality to have both in country music, and just in music in general. Shes also a very unique country artist, because she doesnt have a southern accent, so her voice is a bit more accessible for those who wouldnt normally enjoy country music. Thats not a problem or even a praise, its just merely an observation. But her vocals are a big reason as to why I enjoy this LP. Her lyrics are also quite nice, too; Jones mainly sings about relationships, and stories of heartbreak. While the ideas themselves are rather clichéd, she still does bring well written lyrics to the table. Heck, in Timing, she talks about how she never gave a guy that liked her the time of day, and when she realized that he was perfect for her, she was getting married to somebody else and she regrets not giving him a chance. She doesnt get him to cheat on his bride, or anything like that, but she just admits to her mistake. And thats the kind of lyricism I like to see, especially with country music. A lot of that stuff is more bro-country oriented, talking about beer and girls. Hearing a song like Timing from Jones is really nice, and its easily one of the highlights of the LP. My other favorite track lyrically is Freckles, which deals with nostalgia, and not being able to relive memories from when you were a kid. In the track, Jones talks to someone, and from what I gather, it seems to be her brother (and in the lyric video, she shows pictures of her brother, I believe, so it makes sense), and just how she cares and loves him. They may not see each often anymore, now that theyre grown, but she will always treasure memories. Its a very touching track, and also one of the catchiest instrumentally. For every track that I enjoy lyrically, there a couple of duds. They aren’t terrible songs, by no means, but a few tracks just dont do much me for lyrically, including Thirty Seconds to Goodbye, Carousel, and Last Bullet. These tracks are the more obviously clichéd songs that dont quite offer anything interesting lyrically, but theyre still pleasant, thanks to Jones vocal delivery and the instrumentation. Speaking of which, my least favorite part of this LP is the instrumentation. I don’t want to say I dont like it, because I absolutely enjoy it, but its just not too interesting. Its pretty standard country, folk, and indie-pop, but I do commend this LP for having a lot of variety. In fact, Id really liken the instrumentation here to Fleetwood Macs self-titled or Rumours. Jones doesnt sound similar to someone like Stevie Nicks vocally, but lyrically, she sort does, especially on a track like album closer, Keep You, which even features a nice soft-rock guitar solo that closes out the track. Its easily another highlight of mine, and closes out the record on a great note. The instrumentation doesnt quite do anything new, or interesting, as a whole, but it’s still good. Its just nothing too worthwhile, if that makes sense to anybody reading this. By no means is it bad, or generic, but its also not too interesting, either. Its right in the middle. For a country album, it works fine, and the instrumentation is done well, too. Im really glad that I ordered a copy of this LP, and heck, Im glad that I even came across Sarah Jones at all. If youre a country fan, or a fan of singer-songwriter stuff, definitely give this woman a listen. Overall rating: 9.3/10 -Bradley
Posted on: Fri, 19 Sep 2014 22:21:32 +0000
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