jes: high glow

New Yorker Jes Brieden, known simply as Jes, has been well established on the dance music circuit for a number of years, best known for the 2004 club hit ‘As The Rush Comes’ with Gabriel and Dresden. She has since worked with some of the biggest names of the dance world including Paul van Dyke, Tiësto, Deepsky, D:Fuse, BT and Airscape and out two albums of her own – 2007’s Disconnect and remix album Into The Dawn the following year – which met with limited success outside of the dance music market. High Glow marks her first foray into a more commercial electro-pop territory in an attempt to repeat the international success of her earlier collaborations, and the immediacy of many of the songs belie a commercial nous from a songwriter adept at instant pop hooks and radio-friendly sensibilities.

High Glow takes aim at the full spectrum of dancefloor-oriented pop, from the trance-infused pop of first single ‘Awaken’ – the perfect sonic counterpoint to Brieden’s brittle, icy vocals – to the Kylie-esque electro stomper ‘Closer’ with its squelchy synths, clunking beats, shimmering chorus refrain and effective bridge assembled out of cut and paste vocals. Brieden proves capable of holding down a decent ballad with the title track, stripping away the electronic trickery with acoustic guitar and piano, and the delirious electro washes and heartfelt vocals of ‘Halfway Gone’. ’Such A Long Time’ is a darker affair, the lashings of bass almost in danger of swallowing up her quiet voice, while the guitar-heavy ‘Do You Love Me?’ is an obvious second single.

A cover of The Cure’s mournful ‘Lovesong’ is given a believable electro makeover but has the rather undesired effect of highlighting the weaker songwriting moments elsewhere on the album. Perhaps the most throwaway of them all is ‘Fame’, which finds Brieden aping Lady Gaga at her most soulless with a nursery rhyme-like refrain and somewhat inane lyrics about how “fame / it’s a game”. ‘It’s Too Late’ revs up the pace in a stomping club tune relying on a repetitive melody and breakdown chorus, and ‘Where Are You?’ matches two-step beats and acoustic guitars before hitting it out of the park with an infectious chorus. Sadly, that’s where the inventiveness ends as the album’s remaining six songs serve only to dilute the impact of Brieden’s appeal.

That’s not to say there aren’t some interesting things going on towards the album’s conclusion – ‘Same Mistake’ is a blistering club track, ‘Medicine’ is broody trip hop, and ‘Unleash The Beat’ is a potential hit single – but at sixteen tracks, High Glow is simply overstuffed and attention starts to wander after slippage in the quality control stakes. There are some solid pop moments to savour, however, and though much is instantly forgettable lyrically, Brieden’s way with a chorus hook proves she has a future career writing songs for other artists should renewed commercial success elude her.

[Black Hole; March 15, 2010]

Written by: P Viktor

Tags: high glow, jes

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 7th, 2010 at 10:19 am and is filed under albums & EPs, reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.