Rootstime, Belgium
Eleven years after the release of her debut album “Night Songs” comes the Canadian singer and song writer Lynn Jackson from Kitchener, Ontario with her eighth solo album. The album title “Songs Of Rain, Snow And Remembering” suggests that we will get a plate full of songs about sadness, gloom and nostalgic look back at the past. Partly is that a correct assumption, but there is certainly also a decent helping of positivism and hope in the the songs processed.
Opener “Sky Looks Like Rain” has all those mentioned characteristics, but in the subsequent “Young” Lynn Jackson still gives the message to not too much to look back on what happened, but rather to look forward on how to get more intense of the future will be able to enjoy. Her previous plate “The Acoustic Sessions”, which they released in 2014 along with Chris Boyne, was produced by Norman Blake, the singer and composer of Scottish pop and folk group ’ Teenage Fan Club ‘. He was also behind the buttons in the recording studio for this new plate of Lynn Jackson. She plays itself on acoustic guitar in accompaniment to her songs and for the recording of this album were pianist Paul, cellist Nick Storring Arun, guitarists Joe Dunn and Brent Hagerman, bassist Scott Fitzpatrick and harmonium player and backing vocalist Chris Boyne in the studio for additional instrumentation.
The emotional piano ballad “Long Winter” is the first song that manages to grab us by the scruff of the neck. That Lynn Jackson attaches great importance to the songs lyrics we actually no more to mention.
You can perhaps look better and listen to the song “Riding Out The Storm”.
Her in the trade press-created title as a female version of Bob Dylan or Leonard Cohen she deserves the fullest, listen for that, but look at “Next Best Thing”, piano ballad “Ribbons” with good work on cello, intriguing “Flying” and “Mine Alone” or the two slot numbers “Winter Sun” and “Water Glass”.
For this eighth album chose Lynn Jackson sure to cover a song from another folk artist. That was the song ‘Rake’ from the repertoire of the legendary Townes Van Zandt and find it back on his first album, ‘Be Here To Love Me’ from 1971.
To be cheerful should not go to ‘Songs Of Rain, Snow And Remembering’ listen, but if you’re a lover of beautiful stories told in a melodious bed of piano and cello music, then we can make this new record by Lynn Jackson certainly very hot at you.