Having made a tactical error a couple of weeks ago by offering up my reviewing services for a "lucky dip" selection of releases, I settled down to give this a listen-through, knowing a big round zilch about the artist Essie Jain. Now whilst - of course - I will listen to anything that I am meant to be reviewing with an open and unbiased mind, I generally prefer to opt for music that I have an expectation of enjoying or, at least, finding something to which I can relate or in which I can find some interest.

This preamble is really just to make clear that this album, and this singer is totally and utterly of a type that I would normally run shrieking from after just listening to the opening bars of one of her songs. The review that now follows does not contend that this album is without merit, artistry, talent and all kinds of good stuff, simply that I personally was unable to identify much of it, clouded, as I have been, by my dislike of the style of music that it represents.

Jain is a British singer-songwriter, now resident in New York, and this is her second album, after 200X's well-received debut We Made This Ourselves. She sings solemn and stately songs in a voice that sounds a bit like Feist, or Joan As Policewoman. Her voice is tuneful and strong but, to my ears at least, overwhelmingly and oppressively melancholy. Most of the tracks here are downbeat (bar the jaunty polka of ‘The Rights') and the cumulative effect is, well, depressing and more than a little dirge-like. There are touches of sombre 1960s-era folk music (see ‘Here We Go' and ‘Not Yours') and a hint of something approaching classical (on the more piano-led tracks like ‘Please') and well, there you have it. Depresso-neo-classic-folk may be the genre for some, but it really, really ain't for me. Judge for yourselves, disagree with me by all means and discuss it on the Line of Best Fit forum here but please, please don't ask me to listen to this album again: November's a bleak enough month as it is...
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Essie Jain on MySpace