Jan Seides
– Siren Song (Panda
Productions)
Singer-songwriter Jan Seides may well be based in
Austin, but she’s a hardly a typical Texas troubadour. Though she tells it like
it is, with an honest-to-goodness style that’s incredibly effective, she does
so with a level of polished sophistication, which has led previous reviewers to
describe her sound as Patty Griffin meets Broadway. Intrigued? I certainly was,
and she doesn’t disappoint on “Siren Song”, her fourth album since her 1992
debut.
So, Seides may not be the most prolific of recording
artists, but I suspect she’s uncompromising with her music, and everything on
her latest record suggests a dedication to getting things just right. It’s a
system that obviously works for her, as “Siren Song” is a thoroughly enjoyable
collection. Seides is a clever, classic pop songwriter, with a voice to match.
The arrangements and instrumentation are sympathetic and dynamic, and the whole
package impresses.
Beginning with the upbeat “High Hopes for You”, a
rumination on life and its ups and downs, a beefy harmonica leads the band.
It’s followed by “Dishonesty”, a slower more
brooding song with plenty of meat on its bones, and a propensity to get under
ones skin - and stay there. It may well be my favourite track on the album, but
there’s no shortage of highlights still to come, from her desire to emulate the
leading ladies of the past on “Femme Fatale” to
the beautifully arranged “Flying to New York City”,
which sounds like it could have emerged fully formed from the Brill Building,
circa 1973.
Tony S.
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