Title: Fervent
Artist: Jenn Kelly
Release Date: 2014 May 18
Genre: Anti Folk / Punk Rock
License: CC BY-NC-SA

Note: Jenn Kelly has decided to take her releases down from BandCamp as she is undergoing to the transition from female to male, and wishes to keep her old and new identities separate. I am leaving this review in place as a tribute to the person.

Introduction

The fervent Jenn Kelly is something of a traveler: New York, Berlin, Istanbul, Croatia, Serbia, Canada and the Balkans are just a few of the places she has visited and performed her music. What makes this most interesting is that she wasn’t on a tour, at least not a tour that organized in the traditional manner we think of for most musicians.

Instead, as she traveled from country to country, she tried to find places to play. She would make contact with someone, or go into a hostel or pub and ask if there was a place she could perform. This is just another example of the way Jenn Kelly has taken her musical career by the throat and made it work. it’s this intensity and passion that comes through in her music.

(Note: Jenn’s travels are based on an interview she did in 2012. These days her tours are much more organized. I only mention this story as an example of her passion for her music.)

The Fervent Jenn Kelly

It’s this kind of intensity and passion that hits you immediately when you listen to Jenn’s latest release Fervent. From the opening strains of ‘Tongue Tone’ Jenn, Mel Pak and Yoko O.K. hit you square in the ears with a stripped down, direct sound that doesn’t let you escape. This band is here to be in your ears and make you listen to them.

Even when you make it to the third track ‘Jesus Complex’, with its soft guitar-arpeggio opening, and vocals she is still demanding the listeners intention. Her songs are stories, and she has the ability to draw you into her story within a few words. She is definitely in a class with the best lyricists and poets of the past several decades.

Vocally Jenn has been compared to Lou Reed and Kristin Hersh, which is a fairly reasonable comparison. She isn’t the type of crooner that is going to spin out a Sinatra like torch song anytime soon, from the sounds of this recording.

Conclusion

Jenn Kelly has a direct, stripped down, in-your-face style that demands the listener’s attention. Her lyrics are well-crafted and often evocative. She is the kind of singer / songwriter that is likely to bring comparisons with Ani DiFranco, but make no mistake Jenn is her own artist and musician.

This is Jenn’s sixth solo release, and her first release under a Creative Commons license. And it’s a joy to have her releasing this high quality, honest music under a CC license. Hopefully her future releases will continue to be under a CC license.