{"id":878170,"date":"2017-04-06T11:06:23","date_gmt":"2017-04-06T15:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/?p=878170"},"modified":"2017-04-06T11:11:54","modified_gmt":"2017-04-06T15:11:54","slug":"karen-jonas-country-songs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/2017\/04\/06\/karen-jonas-country-songs\/","title":{"rendered":"Karen Jonas: ‘Country Songs’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Following up on perfection is a hard thing to do. The year was 2014 when indie-country singer Karen Jonas dropped \u201cOklahoma Lottery,\u201d a masterpiece of an album that announced the Fredericksburg, Virginia, artist as a complete force in the local music lexicon. Her top-shelf combination of sincerely weathered wit, a beautiful trembling voice and an unmatched storytelling aptitude demanded not only attention but respect. She was mean. She was hurt. She was angry. She was sad. She didn\u2019t just wear her heart on her sleeve, she lit it on fire and carried it around over her head.<\/span><\/p>\n

Such is why the expectation for \u201cCountry Songs,\u201d her follow-up to that breakthrough set, was established at an unfairly impossible height. Could the tenderness of \u201cThinkin\u2019 Of You Again\u201d or the explicit fun of \u201cSuicide Sal\u201d be re-created \u2014 or even better, outdone \u2014 by a new collection of songs that might expand her template into unchartered territory? Would the act of being great be taken for granted, if only because the initial standard was perfection? Did this record even have a chance?<\/span><\/p>\n

The answers to those questions are almost as impossible as the feat that stood in front of Jonas while recording this record. Still, \u201cCountry Songs\u201d is beyond fabulous. Staying true to her blend of Americana, folk, country, bluegrass and pop, these 10 tracks are a viable extension \u2014 if not occasional evolution \u2014 of her previous work. The fire is prevalent and the perspective unapologetic. It\u2019s what makes her an essential artist within a landscape constantly in need of vitality.<\/span><\/p>\n

Look no further than the leading title track for a reintroduction to how addicting Jonas\u2019s work can be. Funny yet compelling, self-referential yet lightly presented, it\u2019s both longing and harsh \u2014 oftentimes simultaneously. Admitting that she didn\u2019t grow up relating to the very music with which she is most commonly associated these days, it\u2019s meta in all the most delicious ways, bringing to the forefront a heart shattered by the partner who taught her to enjoy the genre. \u201cGotta get your heart good and broken before you sing along,\u201d she intones before thanking the dastardly ex-companion for introducing her to the music she now loves. Add in a barb about wearing tight jeans and it\u2019s vintage Karen Jonas.<\/span><\/p>\n

Other classic moments? How about \u201cOphelia,\u201d which showcases guitarist Tim Bray\u2019s excellent Western shredding in a consistently elegant manner. Part rockabilly, part Bakersfield, all wisdom, the track hears the singer coach someone through a breakup in exhilarating fashion. She\u2019s at her best when she talk-sings her way through verses and as she advocates for her student-in-waiting to take a deep breath, it\u2019s hard not to smile. You can tell this came from someone who knows a thing or two about being on both sides of heartbreak, and she\u2019s all the better for it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Speaking of heartbreak, \u201cWasting Time\u201d leaves no string attached to that organ un-pulled. Punctuated by persuasive pop balladry, the country western influence here is almost entirely moot, yet that doesn\u2019t mean her words aren\u2019t as affecting or commanding as they are elsewhere. Completing the four-course meal is a hearty entree of Bray\u2019s classic-rock soloing that splits the song in two halves \u2014 before the succulent dish is consumed and after its tasked with settling into your stomach. In short, his work is an explosion of flavor.<\/span><\/p>\n

The stomach is left slightly empty only when Jonas experiments with atmosphere. \u201cThe Garden\u201d harkens back to the days when Chris Isaak was rolling around on a beach in various states of undress and while it\u2019s encouraging to hear her add another layer of darkness to a world already devoid of lights, it stretches just a tiny bit too long. Closer \u201cYankee Doodle Went Home\u201d crawls along similarly, but the blatantly defeatist ethos bring the production back from the edge whenever it starts to slip. Or, in other words, there\u2019s singing about being forlorn, and then there\u2019s listening to Karen Jonas make you feel it.<\/span><\/p>\n

That said, it\u2019s still always been her cleverness that sets her above the rest. \u201cKeep Your Hands To Yourself\u201d is an exhilarating boogie as honest as it is defiant. \u201cYou should keep your hands to yourself next time, if that\u2019s how you want to be \/ Just because I wanted you doesn\u2019t mean you can make a fool out of me,\u201d she demands within the song\u2019s hook, and it\u2019s hard not to cheer her on. \u201cWandering Heart,\u201d meanwhile, plays in that push-pull space that all great country music plays in, our protagonist wrestling with wanting to stay faithful all the while knowing if she doesn\u2019t receive the attention she deserves, she\u2019s prone to mistakes. It\u2019s a reminder that the distance between a wandering heart and wandering feat is often much further to travel than one should ever be forced to endure.<\/span><\/p>\n

Yet without enduring her fair share of \u2026 well \u2026 traveling, who knows if Karen Jonas would be able to create such vibrant art. And while you can draw comparisons if you must \u2014 a song title like \u201cWhiskey and Dandelions\u201d sounds awfully familiar to Ashley Monore\u2019s \u201cWeed Instead Of Roses,\u201d does it not? The truth is that this is an artist who feels entirely singular. \u201cCountry Songs\u201d establishes that fact if only for exemplifying the \u201cfool me once, fool me twice\u201d cliche. Anybody can put out a great record, but it takes a fully realized artist to maintain that level of expertise.<\/span><\/p>\n

Make no mistake. With \u201cCountry Songs,\u201d Karen Jonas is a fully realized artist.<\/span><\/p>\n

*** 3 1\/2 STARS OUT OF 4 ***<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Following up on perfection is a hard thing to do. The year was 2014 when indie-country singer Karen Jonas dropped \u201cOklahoma Lottery,\u201d a masterpiece of an album that announced the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-878170","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878170","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=878170"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/878170\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=878170"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=878170"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fnpsites.net\/playlist\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=878170"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}