Reviews

Artist: Jenny McCormick
Album: Me, I Prefer The Moon
Label: Square Peg Records
Tracks: 10
Rating: ***
Contact:   www.jennymccormick.com

Hailing from Manchester, Jenny McCormick has been surrounded by creativity most of her life. Her dad used to play in a band and her house was always full of records.
As a kid, Jenny used to write a lot at school and started a lot of books at home, but never really finished any. The trick with songwriting is to compress that potential novel into 40 lines of poetry. It's something that Jenny's adapted to well.
Whilst poetical, Jenny's songwriting is very much that of the narrative, with "Me, I Prefer The Moon" becoming a compilation of stories rather than an album dedicated to the emotions. That's not to say that it doesn't work on an emotional level, I just think it works better by being evocative..
Eight of the ten tracks on the album are McCormick penned, with two tracks, "The Forsaken Mermaid" and "My Sweet William" being drawn out of folk's broad canvas.
"The Eagle's Gift", is for my mind, the most interesting song on the album. It's base on the tale of Sir Thomas Latham, who managed to get his barren wife to accept his illegitimate, by pretending the abandonned child had been left by a passing eagle.
The title track is also the sign off track for the album. It's theme is reflect on the past, but look towards the future. Good advice indeed. Reflecting on these tracks I see a good debut album and an artist with a lot of promise in the future. Jenny's got a slot at Cambridge, I'll catch up with things there and see if her showcase is as vibrant as her album.