Jem Albums (2)
What The Critics Say
Is Jem a club-ready electronica chanteuse or an easygoing adult contemporary artist? It's difficult to tell on Down to Earth, which furthers the dual personality first shown on Jem's 2004 debut. The refusal to settle on one style often serves Jem well, however, and Down to Earth features a bevy of producers who lend their unique approach to each track. Having created diverse sonic stews for Lily Allen and Kylie Minogue -- not to mention his own project, the Bird and the Bee -- Greg Kurstin stops by to helm "Aciiid!," a synth-driven dance track sung partially in Japanese. Elsewhere, hip-hop producer Jeff Bass (who, along with his brother, helped launch Eminem's career) mashes banjo riffs with funk horns on "Crazy," and Lester Mendez (famous for his work with such Latin artists as Santana, Shakira, and Nelly Furtado) employs spoken word samples from West Side Story during the Spanish-tinged "I Want You To...." Those energetic tracks are some of the album's highlights, but they go head to head with songs like "Got It Good," "And So I Pray," and "On Top of the World," all of which are the stuff of lite FM radio stations. Ultimately, the eclecticism shown within Jem's songs may well be a detriment to the album as a whole, since Down to Earth's mix of producers and genres lacks cohesion. It's also worth noting that nothing here is as immediately ingratiating as "They," and while "It's Amazing" (another Mendez vehicle) does feature a similar chorus -- complete with descending minor chords and repeated iterations of the title -- it can't match the original's spunk and spark. Down to Earth's title depicts Jem as a grounded musician, but its wide-ranging sound suggests something different, as the singer has yet to find a style that fully suits her capabilities. Fortunately, her search for the perfect genre still yields some enjoyable songs, as shown by this album's handful of standout tracks. ~ Andrew Leahey, All Music Guide
What The Critics Say
Finally Woken, Jem's full-length debut, fleshes out the It All Starts Here EP with six additional tracks. It features the addicting title track, the same one that blew away KCRW and Nic Harcourt and got her signed to ATO, and it really is quite brilliant. With a dizzy main loop and loping percussion that undulates slyly beneath Jem's dusky vocal detachment, it sounds like what would happen if Beth Orton started bouncing ideas off of Super Furry Animals' hard drive. The song's formula essentially repeats throughout Finally Woken -- Jem's simplistically alluring vocals stringing along subtle electronic percussion, ear-catching samples, and melodic loops built from traditional instruments. However, perhaps because this debut sort of snuck up on her, it seems stylistically scattershot. Jem and collaborator Yoad Nevo have a jones for switching things up. They elongate and reduce their elements wildly, to varying degrees of success. ("Missing You," for example, is just too weepy, while "Wish I"'s breezy '60s pop update somehow sounds too shrill.) Still, this adventurism is to be applauded. Jem could've rewritten "Finally Woken" ten times and given Dido a run for the MOR electro-pop title. Instead, she settles awkwardly between mainstream accessibility and intimate bedroom electronica -- she even recorded much of her vocal work in bedrooms. "They" amplifies the percussion and drops in chattering children nonsensicals as a sample, while "Save Me"'s sultry bump could have been written for Ashanti. It just begs for an MC to break in; instead, Jem herself switches to cheeky sort of rap cadence for the final verse. "Mirror mirror on the wall/Who's the dumbest of them all?" she coos in her slight Welsh lilt. "24" is more aggressive with its insistent violin loop and roaring electric guitar -- there's even a church bell tolling in the background -- while "Falling for You" channels the breezy space pop of Zero 7. Overall, Jem's songcraft is only ambitious in relation to a genre often defined by a "blander is better" pleasure principle. But it's the intimacy she squeezes between Finally Woken's capable cutting, pasting, and sequencing that makes it really inviting. It's like a sheaf of endearingly crumpled love letters from a talented, scatterbrained friend. ~ Johnny Loftus, All Music Guide
