KATE JACOBS
You Call That Dark (Bar/None Records)
Reviewed by Shaun Dale

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Kate Jacobs likes, she says, to write songs "that are only as sad as life...," among other qualities, and it's a notion I find very appealing. Only as sad, no sadder, and no less, which leaves room for some hope, some joy, some contentment, but doesn't exclude some sorrow. It creates a space for full lives in her songs, and allows you to know the people she sings about in ways that are surprising given the confines of a brief lyric. It's been six years since the last collection of Kate Jacobs songs was released, as she's taken time for a full life of her own, including children, gardens and other essential concerns. It's that full life, really, that makes the music worth the wait. There are no complaints here about the hardships of stardom or life on the road. The songs are really good because the characters are really people and the subjects really matter. Because Kate Jacobs is really a real person.

Recorded with a major assist from musical renaissance man David Schramm (in addition to the studio space and production, he contributes guitar, piano, organ, harmonium, Dobro, bass, xylophone, percussion and vocals), Jacobs augments 11 new songs with a traditional French song learned around summer camp campfires and a Shakespearean sonnet set to melody, but her heartfelt performances give her complete ownership of the borrowed material as well. Jacobs has never been a fast worker in the studio, with her first three albums spaced out over the best part of a decade, but six years is a long time to wait. Hopefully the next isn't quite so far off, but if that should happen, you can be sure of at least six years of solid enjoyment from this one.

Track List:

Your Big Sister * Lavender Line * Pete's Gonna Sell * Life Can Be Sweet * God Bless Ione * Helen Has A House * The Silent Hills * Let Dusty Be Your Guide * I Walk In Fear * Tall Buildings * What A World, What A God * If It's An Elm Tree * That Time OF Year

© 2004 - Shaun Dale