Jessica Slighter - A Sense of Growth

by Dave Goodwin

published: 29 / 7 / 2016

Label: Hubro
Format: CD

Exploratory but captivating third album from Dutch-born but Norwegian -based vocalist and composer, Jessica Sligter

Review

'A Sense of Growth' is the solo-project of vocalist and composer Jessica Sligter, who is originally from the Netherlands but now resides in Oslo, Norway. She is a talented lady, who besides making albums also writes commissioned works and music for performance, as well as art-performances and videos. This her third offering and was released as was her 2012 second album 'Fear and the Framing' on Norwegian label Hubro. Her debut album, ´Balls and Kittens, Draught and Strangling Rain´, was released in October 2010 under the name 'JÆ', and both of her first two records were self-produced by Sligter. Although she received glowing reviews for her previous albums, 'A Sense Of Growth' is by far Sligter's most adventurous album to date. It's a curious affair, being varied, bold and more abstract than her previous two albums but overall works well. It was recorded in Seattle and was produced by Sligter and Randall Dunn (Marissa Nadler, Akron/Family, Earth) who also mixed 'Fear and the Framing'. There are a plethora of contributing musical guests including viola and bass player Eyvind Kang (Mr Bungle, Animal Collective, John Zorn) who also wrote some of the string arrangements. Including more synthesizers on this third, Sligter has maintained her characteristic vocals but the overall sound of this album is more complex, adventurous not just lyrically but sonically and vocally and showcases her own production skills. In her own words Sligter says "On this album, musical elements I’ve worked with include more abstract sonic images, In short, I’m still trying in a sense to deconstruct the format of song-based music." After working with Susanna and Jenny Hval on commissioned work, she invited Jenny Hval to contribute with vocals on two tracks on the new album and several other songs on the album were actually written for a concert she did with Susanna in 2014 for the exhibition 'We Live on a Star'. The sixth track on the album 'Mercilessly Clear' is based on a Harry Martinson’s novel/long form poem 'Aniara'. For me the longer the album lasts the stranger it becomes. I don't mean that in a bad way either. The first few tracks are more mainstream, if you can get mainstream in the Sligter world and then it gets more and more, let's say, obscure as it becomes more exploratory. Originally I thought her voice quite Rumer-esque but that would be an insult to Slighter who has a huge repertoire packed in those lungs. Think sort of Siouxsie with a lean toward a Cranberries-era Dolores O'Riordan. This comes in a glossy double CD sleeve complete with lyric booklet and credits and some really nice artwork by Yokoland.