Essie Jain is a UK artist now based out of New York City, where the similarity to Estelle abruptly ends. Her MySpace site has it spot on in terms of a description of her sound – ‘warm, open and intimate’ couldn’t be more accurate, as it’s often stripped down to her vocals and a soft piano accompaniment. She really uses her voice as an instrument though, bringing a real personality to each song, and there’s also a lightly mischievous sense of humour in evidence, coming through on tracks like the clarinet-led ‘Rights’. Her lyrics repay close scrutiny as well – my favourite being “as we drop off the edge of the Earth we’ll give thanks for the ride”. Slightly kooky at times then – but deeply emotive at others, too.
4 Out Of 5
Reviewed By: Ben Hogwood
