Between them, Delta
Goodrem and Missy Higgins have sold more records
in Australia than
any female singer-songwriters have for a long, long
time. Between them, they’ve engendered interest in
other artists who might have been otherwise marginalised,
such as Melbourne-via-Sydney-via-Adelaide artist Jen
Cloher.
Cloher hasn’t had a normal rise to prominence – instead,
she’s gone to the fabled National Institute for Dramatic
Arts, picked up a guitar while she was there, and
has never looked back since. Now based in Melbourne,
her best song on her debut EP doesn’t even belong
to her – but it’s kinda hard to top the emotional
tour de force of Bruce Springsteen’s “State Trooper”,
from his brilliant Nebraska.
So Delta or Missy this is not. In terms of recent
popular female singer-songwriters, Cloher has far
more in common with Kasey Chambers – there’s an emotional
push-and-pull on the likes of the opening “Longing
Song”, while radio single “Rain” is just ever so
incredibly impressive. It’s got a natural pitter-patter
to it, with Cloher’s fragile, tremulous voice lulling
the listener into a false sense of security. It’s
the sort of song that can make an artist move from
credible beginner to overachieving big-timer. And
that, dear friends, is a very good thing indeed.
There’s an emotional maturity to all three Cloher
compositions, and “Rain” is promised to be merely
the tip of the iceberg in terms of sheer strength
of songwriting. Augmented by Charlie Owen on the
Dobro, and Bic Rung on bee vees, it’s got all the
promise of being a classic. The closing “Dearest
Friend” continues the acoustic folk mould found on
her warm cover of “State Trooper”, and the sooner
she puts something else out to further cement her
reputation as a rising star the better.
