Jayl
There
seems to be something of an early nineties revival going on round
here at the moment. While Darkstar Safari are taking care of the
indie department, we can now rely on Jayl to take care of things
with the dance genre.
Far from being just another dance act, Jayl may well prove to
be the dance equivalent of The Clash or Rage Against the Machine.
 |
| Stephen
Morris |
In
a recent newspaper interview, the American singer and prolific songwriter
Stephin Merritt announced that he always went to a bar playing loud
thumping disco music to write his songs, simply because he finds
it so boring, his only option is to write songs of his own.
Perhaps
it's just as well that Merritt (probably) hasn't come across Jayl's
work, otherwise he would never write another song again.
Immediate
comparisons can be made to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark or
perhaps even the little remembered spoof "Take Me to the Fridge
(Milky Milky)" by Mr. Strange and The Lactose Brotherhood.
However,
while OMD just got lost on the Seven Seas so blue and The Lactose
Brotherhood developed unhealthy obsessions with warm milk, Jayl
provides intelligent, often angry lyrics against an unrelenting
stream of electronica.
Jayl's
songs are so full of ideas, both musical and lyrical that you cannot
help but listen, enjoy and drink in.
Far
from the monosyllabicity of most dance tracks where a couple of
phrases of "can you feel the music?" and "shake your
body" will do, Jayl's songs are jam packed with words. Hundreds
and hundreds of the things.
Jayl's
songs are so full of ideas, both musical and lyrical that you
cannot help but listen, enjoy and drink in.
|
| Stephen
Morris |
Take
"Sweet Baby Shark" for example. It's a gorgeous song about
a nigh-on mythical character: a siren like woman whose description
would not be out of place on a Stevie Nicks/Fleetwood Mac album:
'She looks pretty as a peach/She's a mean cool girl/but she's out
of my reach.'
The
music, however, would be misplaced on such a record. While Jayl
sings such mesmerising lyrics as "I remembered to forget her,
but her memory wouldn't leave," an incessant electronic beat
pervades throughout a melody reminiscent of Pulp's "The Wicker"
and a beautiful female vocal accompaniment from Kate Bush-a-like
Liz McCoy.
How
can one song sound so full to bursting?
But
the wordiness and musical imagination don't stop there. Oh no. With
the track "Sorcery", Jayl proves himself to be something
of a political animal, dreaming of a day when lying politicians,
the "sorcerers" of the title, are sent to ground along
with "heretics" and those guilty of "conniving and
contriving".
 |
|
Beautiful
female vocal accompaniment from Kate Bush-a-like Liz McCoy
|
This
is all part of the "anti-bullshit revolution" - a call
to arms to people who hate political corruption. With such sentiments,
Jayl joins an army of musicians through the ages who have questioned
the status quo.
Far
from being just another dance act, Jayl may well prove to be the
dance equivalent of The Clash or Rage Against the Machine.
Whatever
his future, it probably won't involve songs about the seven seas
- or milk. For which we can all be very grateful.
by
Stephen Morris
| Jayl |
| _____ |
No
gig information available |
The
sentiments expressed in this article and any articles by local reviewers
are not necessarily those of the BBC .
If
you have a gig you would like to promote or you are in a band and
would like your CD reviewed then get in touch at gloucestershire@bbc.co.uk
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