Jessie Kilgus certainly has a way with album titles. Following on from 2022’s What Do Whales Dream About at Night, she now gives us They Have A Howard Johnson’s There. A much more interesting way of doing things than calling your album Led Zeppelin IV or The Doors, dontcha think?
Kicking off with the recent single, “Howard Johnson’s,” a line from which gives the album its title (10 points if any film buffs get the reference), we find her in more upbeat mode, cleverly balancing the groovesome and the heartfelt as the song acts as a tribute to her father.
“St Teresa in Ecstacy” echoes the more delicate, perhaps restrained sound of that previous album, and proves to be, in an album full of nuance and deft songwriting, in itself, the crowning pinnacle of understated sonic ecstacy.
The astute will have, by now, picked up on even more cultural references – modern Irish songstresses and Renaissance sculptors – and will have realised that this is not just an album of great music, it is an adventure through art and artistry itself, a journey through American mythology and European arthouse sensibilities, contemporary culture, great literature, and historical icons. Music that is, that rare thing, both graceful and smart, that heady blend of beauty and brains!
“Chasing Down a Ghost” cleverly bends punchy guitars into pure elegance, and “Jesus Was a Cross Maker” sounds like a long-lost track from Suzanne Vega’s eponymous debut (should have tried harder with the title, Ms. V.), such is its shimmering gorgeousness. That comparison is not an accolade I throw around lightly.
Having Charlie Neiland once again helping bring the songs to fruition, you know that her music is in safe hands, but also having the likes of fellow Gramercy Arms dealer Dave Derby not to mention industry stalwarts such as Kirk Schoenherr, John Kengla, Rob Heath and Rembert Block is always going to bring additional magic.
And magic is the right word for this collection of songs that seem to blend gentle infectiousness with demonstrable intellect, groove with grace, occasional punch with undeniable poignancy. The perfect attraction of opposites.
Album order
Apple Music
Bandcamp
