JESS BY THE LAKE

JESS BY THE LAKE      “Human” 

By Octopi Mills

Formerly of JESS AND THE ANCIENT ONES, Jasmin Limpinen has gone on to something different, hence the review that you are now reading. Said to be a celebration of analog and live music, it pays homage to the past and to rock music. Originally worked on magnetic tape and recording in a railroad company's log house, there is allegedly some background ambience from some train tracks to be heard in the background. Themes and concepts deal with the human condition. 

The album certainly has that old analog feel of a live band from the 60s and 70s and mixes old rock and blues in good old fuzzy rock and roll nostalgia. The vocals are warm and raw and the guitars take the center of it all with a vintage flair. The song "Lovely Boy" opens as a sort of ballad and turns into something nearly out of a Motown scene. The songs have an overall simple structure, often close to that of a garage band that has been brought into a studio of years gone into the mists of time. I wouldn't call this doom metal at all, and it really hinges more to a blues sort of thing with some psychedelia served up and overall the album contains a meandering, free for all kind of vibe. The rhythm and blues feel on this album is very heavy in influence, to be sure, with the vocals taking over the guitar parts and joining with them in a structure that is the foundation for the music. 

It seems this project gives JESS the format to use the range of her voice over the music and allows it to wail, moan, stretch and express things that are human in the end. The songs don't take the "hit song" and classic structure of  the rock music of the past but rather seem to be more ambiguous. It is possibly an album that will take a few listens to get further into it.

SVART RECORDS 

JESS BY THE LAKE