Twenty years after the release of her solo debut, Amarillo, Jaye returns with an album that serves as a timely reminder of her craft as a singer-songwriter.
Back in 2006, Sally Jaye released her debut album, Amarillo, an album that would go on to become a cult favourite among the Americana aficionados, with many of its songs appearing on TV series and in films. A native of Georgia, Jaye eventually made her way to Nashville and Los Angeles before returning to Nashville, and, in addition to pursuing a solo career, has also been a member of bands such as Ladies Gun Club, Pink Birds and the experimental punk trio The Rodgers. In more recent times, she has developed a close working relationship with Brian Wright, performing in his band The Waco Tragedies, and on this new release Wright performs on nine of the ten songs, co-writing eight of them.
The bulk of this new album, You’ll Be Okay, Baby, was recorded between Capricorn Sound Studio in Macon and The Studio in Nashville, with production being shared by Brent Cobb and Ted Pecchio, supported by a stellar cast of musicians that includes the aforementioned Wright along with Charlie Gilbert, Leroy Wilson, Miles Landry and Rob Somowski, while Aaron Lee Tasjan is also on hand both as songwriter and backing vocals.
The album kicks off with the wonderful Making Pretty Babies, which immediately sets the tone. Constructed almost entirely from real events in Jaye’s childhood, its emotive narrative flows effortlessly, full of interesting characters that are never overly defined, keeping a level of mystery while displaying a keen eye for detail and a poet’s heart. The quality is maintained through the following songs: Lovin’ and Losin’ and Faraway Feeling, where an infectious percussive beat helps propel both tracks, against Jaye’s vocal delivery that slips easily between sassy and unhurried. The acoustic intro on the quirky Your Brother’s on the News Again is another delight, while the reflective Love on the Road, a song written by and featuring Tasjen on backing vocals, has a haunting and timeless beauty that just demands repeated listening.
Elsewhere, Fast Talkin’ Jackie has enough hooks to be a smash hit single, replete with a fiery guitar solo from co-writer Wright, while Bird Dogs and Fence Lines, a song that grew from the strong connection Jaye felt on discovering Georgia writer Harry Crews’ memoir, A Childhood: The Biography of a Place, provides another perfect example of her craft as a storyteller through song. However, Jaye is also more than capable of writing songs with a more topical theme; in the case of Till It All Makes Sense, and the divisions that the political landscape of the last decade has caused between families and friends, focusing not on whose right or wrong but rather on the cost we all pay. On a certain level, that cost is recognised on the following track, Win Some, Lose Some, where she confronts the experience of losing and finding the strength to begin again.
Up to this point, it could be argued that Jaye’s career has not travelled in what one might describe as a conventional route. Having started out as a child actor with a recurring role in the Americana TV Series Christy, to having a twenty-year gap between her debut album and this, her sophomore release. However, with You’ll Be Okay, Baby, she has proved beyond doubt her talent as a singer-songwriter, while at the same time reminding us all that it’s not the destination but the journey that truly matters. One thing’s for sure: with this new release, Jaye has arrived with a whole load of excellent story-driven songs that should propel her right to the front of the current crop of aspiring singer-songwriters.
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