(12-track album/ ONE LITTLE INDIAN)
Whilst Jesse Owens raced ahead on the athletics field in his heyday, Jesse Marlin is fast becoming a hugely respected singer-songwriter on the back of this truly sensational album. To gush that Jesse is a mesmerisingly talented singer songwriter is to under-state to a tragic degree, as you will hopefully agree should you have heard him sing - and sing 'Solitaire' in particular. His vocal performance on this acoustic-backed track is nothing short of awesomely spine-tingling, this being the album's most compelling track.
Opened by his 'Queen of The Underworld,' that sets out his stall as a top-drawer writer of anthems as well as sublimely tender pop-rock lullabies (such as the afore-lauded 'Solitaire'), 'T.K.O' is just as hearty a vibrant tune, his voice just as touchingly resplendent as Adam Duritz's, the singer of Counting Crows fame.
Produced by Ryan Adams, who also played electric guitar throughout, Jesse Marlin is first and foremost a 'Country-rock' singer. 'Wendy' and 'High Lonesome,' mind, are both sharp blasts of intense rock 'n' roll, whilst the subtler melodies and laid-back melancholy of the evocative 'Brooklyn' and 'Xmas' hark to Chris Mills' art as a songwriter, who sounds to be straight out of Nashville.
Facts unflinchingly faced, sad songs have rarely sounded as upbeat or as captivating as these have. And if this is indeed 'the fine art of self-destruction,' I can't wait to see what's next�
(Steve Rudd)
www.jessemarlin.com