Student Essential: Jewel :: Wessex Scene Online

Student Essential: Jewel

28th November 2005
Hannah Dudley

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Jun 06 - Album Reviews: Part 2 - May 2006 (Various, Jewel, Neil Young)
Feb 10 - Cosmo Jarvis: Humasyouhitch/Sonofab***
Feb 10 - Albums of the Year 2009: No.4
Dec 09 - Cartel: Cycles
Nov 09 - Atlum Schema: Atlum Schema

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‘Pieces of You’ - Jewel Kilcher, born in Alaska, 1974, is one of the most ingenious and breath-takingly talented artists of her generation. She’s the only artist that I can say truly deserves the title ‘the new Joni Mitchell’. Forget those wannabes whose names will remain unmentioned, Jewel is the real deal!!!

On her debut major release, ‘Pieces of You’, recorded in Neil Young’s studio, Jewel’s innocentl but profound lyrics, injected with an intense wit and sarcastic humour, was met with broad critical acclaim. Now multi-platinum, the album spawned the international hit ‘You Were Meant For Me’. It was written in the car she slept in between coffee shop tours around California in the early nineties. Other singles from the album included the bitingly bold ‘Pieces of You’, in which Jewel sings of the frailties and bigotry of the human race. Whilst this may sound like a depressing and irritatingly arrogant analyis of mankind that might not make an enjoyable listen, Jewel manages to infuse even her darkest and most political lyrics with wit and irony. ‘Foolish Games’ is emotive and fragile, but the album’s hidden treasure, ‘Near You Always’ is a ‘Joni’ style song, whose lyrics narrate the temptations of love and the fear of losing control. It should be noted that the single version of ‘Foolish Games’, which was used on the ‘Batman Forever OST’, is preferable to the album recording, on which Jewel has addmitted she was trying too hard to sing ‘properly’. This left a rather harsh finish to what are incredibly sensitive lyrics. The intended sensistivity was successfully conveyed on the single version, and particularly exhibited at the song’s close, when in a single word and note she manages to transform her voice from angry and heart-broken to innocently child-like.

The masking of provocative lyrics with childlike vocals and deceptively simple guitar accompaniments is central to Jewel’s talent, best exhibited on the classic ‘Angel Standing By’, a hauntingly beautiful lullaby simply accompanied by harmonics. Overall, the album was a vicious, dark folk record, spattered with poignant lyrics and gut-wrenching vocals, sung with utter innocence, strength and sensuality.