Jess Klein is no girly-girl (and I say that without an ounce of condescending venom)! What I am trying to convey here is that Jess can outdo any "macho" bloke with her consistent musical angst and guts. I thought that Strawberry Lover was the ultimate, quintessential CD, but with the release of City Garden, Jess has achieved perfection with her most commercial release to date.

Starting with "Blood Sweat & Tears," you are immediately drawn into the sounds of the driving guitar. This song is quite stripped down and works really well with just the gospel-like chorus in the background providing backup. I found this song reminiscent of the kind of pure feel that "Love the One You're With" by Buffalo Springfield has.

"Make Love" has a more soulful/reggae feel to it and lets Jess vocally seduce. The title song, "City Garden," shows how Jess uses her environment for inspiration -- "roots this deep only can bring forth one bloom to grow." This song makes me think Jess has delved deeply into her roots. I heard her do this song completely acoustic with just a guitar (and no microphone!) and it was riveting, but with a band and the addition of drums, it is even more moving.

Some of the themes on City Garden are spiritual, such as "Holy Land. "Holy land in the palms of our hands you want a soul." There is also a spiritual reference in "All I Ever Had," which is almost a rock epiphany.

My favourite track (which Jess did live on the bass notes of her acoustic guitar at Banjo Jim's) is called "Shell & Shore," and it's as sexy as my Strawberry Lover favourite, "Soda Water." Here it is done with a band and backup singers, who add to its mood.

The other tracks are "Swimming Pool," "Middle Road" ( with a very Merseybeat kind of sound), "Alone," "All I Ever Had" and "World Could End," in which Jess announces she will no longer be repressed as the world could end any time, and "I'm going down to the river, I'm going to tear my clothes off and swim in the current 'cause when it dries up, nobody knows." Talk about a catharsis!!

City Garden is a diverse, risk-taking CD that is exploring genres and just might be the one to take Jess Klein to the top, where she belongs.

by Risa Duff
Rambles.NET
21 October 2006