Jennifer Pearl - My Time (demo)

Hear The Track Here

It's that girl again! Soundclick's Critics Corner forum pin-up (hee hee, she'll hate that) Jennifer Pearl, seems to have an extraordinary effect on the male members (DEFINITELY no pun intended) of that community. I've lost count of the amount of guys who've blurted out the 'marry me' pitch to her and bless her, she defends herself well. She sings as good as she looks though, and that's what counts here (Ed: riiiighhhhtttt) and her last track - a collaboration with Charlie A - got a well deserved Must Have from me. A major part of the appeal was with Jennifer's sweet vocals and her knack of knowing how words DO COUNT.

On that track I compared her to Carole King and My Time, despite its lo-fi feel, does nothing to dispel that assumption. However, let me nail my colours clearly to the mast here and say - in the best possible way - that I did feel the vocal strain a time or two. It doesn't do anything to detract from the the impact of the track and I guess most people wouldn't notice. The reason, I suspect, is that this track was recorded in one or two takes. In a more realistic sound setting, there is no doubt in my mind, this would be a killer track and Jennifer would handle it perfectly.

The clue, of course, is in the demo part of the title.

Assisted on this tear-jerker (of which more later) by Jennifer's son Kurt on lead guitar, Jennifer puts her usual powerful performance behind lyrics that definitely demand to be legible. And this is where Jennifer scores most for me. As you know, I'm not a one for ballads and the more histrionic they are, the less I want to do with them. I only need to be in the same city as Celine Dion and I'd come out in a nasty looking rash, you get my drift? To put across a power ballad from such a low level (ie home produced, one take) is almost impossible but - ya know what? These guys manage to pull it off, despite.... This is, to my mind, a track that needs exploring properly - maybe with another collaboration - there is a killer song in here.

Recommended Power ballad.