Steph Cameron - Daybreak Over Jackson Street

  by Stephen Simkin

published: 9 / 2 / 2018

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Review

'Daybreak Over Jackson Street' is a charming, woody, acoustic gem of an album from Saskatoon-based Steph Cameron. Although her accent occasionally lets slip her Canadian heritage, the songs themselves sound as if they could have been written and played in the coffee houses of Greenwich Village in the early 1960s. Cameron’s dextrous fingerpicking style is on show throughout, and in fact precious little additional instrumentation embellishes the collection of eleven songs. The bluesy tones of ‘On My Mind’, however, changes up the predominantly folky major keys and adds some harmonica – although the whole album sounds so wholesome it’s hard to take a line like "I’ve got cocaine on my mind all the time" seriously. The songs were recorded simply and all analogue, and producer Joe Dunphy is very adept at creating an intimate, live atmosphere – every song sounds like it was recorded in a single take. This, along with the simplicity of the arrangements, gives the listener the impression of sitting in a small room with Steph Cameron as she plays. Highlights include the sombre story ‘Richard’, which is a little reminiscent of the rueful mood of Michelle Shocked’s ‘Anchorage’, and the lovely ‘Winterwood’. ‘California’ paints a striking picture of an icebound landscape juxtaposed with the fantasy of a sun-bathed West Coast beach, and the closing ‘Peace is Hard to Find’ resolves the album on a sombre, haunting note.

Track Listing:-

1 Daybreak over Jackson Street
2 Young and Living Free
3 That's What Love Is
4 On My Mind
5 Richard
6 Winterwood
7 Little Blue Bird
8 You Ought to Know by Now
9 California
10 Sing for Me
11 Peace Is Hard to Find

Band Links:-

https://www.facebook.com/stephcameronm
https://twitter.com/scameronmusic