Author: Aleš Podbrežnik
Artist: Jana Sen
Label: Celinka
Release: 2012
Runtime: 42:44
Rating: 4.5/5
Slovenian singer-songwriter Jana Sen is putting out a solo studio debut that, by Sen’s own admission, until very recently wasn’t something worth even daring to imagine becoming real. That’s how it goes when talent is laid in your cradle and you slowly explore it, get to know it, and eventually make friends with it, uncovering your own calling veil by veil through spiritual and emotional growth over the years. Okay, I don’t want to drift too far out there, but that’s just how it goes.
Jana Sen is also a familiar face from the Val 202 compilation »Imamo dobro glasbo – Val 011«, since the Val 202 jury picked the track »Če vedel bi? Človek« for that CD, and back then Jana Sen was already flagging the strengths of a very distinctive musical voice. »Le lepe pesmi« is really the only fitting title for this bundle of 13 tracks, a gorgeous, vivid musical picture book. Something special clearly flows through Jana, because Jana has drawn in some excellent Slovenian musicians who understand all too well the point of genuine intimacy, of underlining feelings through the language of music. »Le lepe pesmi« surprises with an extraordinary color palette of arrangements, which make this artistically high-caliber record so appealing, constantly interesting and, most importantly, very listenable. That’s exactly the essence of singer-songwriter music: the individual in the central role, the carrier of the musical message (here that’s Jana), distills a touch of originality and instant recognizability into a musical sermon, without sounding predictably shallow or cheap for even a second, as if trying to imitate someone or borrow already-tested musical ideas.
Besides the rich and intelligent lyrical content, the heart of this album is of course the vocal delivery itself. It’s dynamic and goes down easy the whole way through, which means Jana has a seriously pleasant voice, or vocal color, which Jana steers skillfully and with deep sensitivity through the most intimate feelings of a personal nature (Čutim te). In the higher registers it sounds dreamy, slightly melancholic, mystical, even yearning, while the middle register is used mostly for those moments on the album that could fit into the frame of cabaret chanson (Preko vseh mej). This duality of the two basic vocal contrasts is already on display in the opening Vse tiho spi, which Stara cesta, near the end of the album, comes close to in feel and partly in arrangement (the guitar accompaniment). Another standout is the excellent integration of the accordion by the master Jure Tori, both in the accompaniment and in the moments where improvised ornaments are woven in, which, for example, at the end of Vse tiho spi effectively dramatize the mood. The bittersweet retro-pop rhetoric of the purely acoustic Ples might, in some distant galaxy, with a thorough rearrangement, be something Croatia’s Jinx would use too.
The crew of musicians, with Jana at the helm, is remarkably supple and receptive throughout when it comes to stringing together many different moods. Their moves are short, easy and relaxed, yet compact and highly responsive to the challenge of laying out sonic and lyrical landscapes. There’s exceptional harmony between them, you could even call it a symbiotic relationship. One of the basic axioms of interpreting music says that the more you play a given motif with supple softness, without a shred of pretension or jerkiness, the more intensely the interpreter’s feeling reaches the listener. That’s exactly what holds true for »Le lepe pesmi«. Jana’s vocal interpretation is deepened by the contrast of the organic tone of the backing musicians that runs through the album. The backing crew often sticks to nothing but percussion, delivering rhythmic figures, which is a hugely important element here. The arrangements really have no limits, as intelligently combined motifs from a colorful palette of instruments creep into the background, from accordion, saxophone, piano, violin and flute, which, alongside the acoustic guitar as the lead accompanying instrument, strengthen the mosaic quality of the musical expression. The first such moment that infectiously gets under your skin with that softness is the verse Pogrešam te, and the feelings flare up especially intensely in the fragile, tender title track
It’s hard to find the effect of Slovenian identity anywhere as strongly as on this singer-songwriter album. That’s why it feels so appealing, with the polished charisma of its own eclecticism. Each of the 13 tracks has a clearly recognizable identity and a distinct expressive note. There’s no »Mašil« on this album stealing the listener’s time and energy. The album’s appeal doesn’t let up from the first second to the last and keeps the listener close, which means »Le lepe pesmi« is a record whose message you’ll be discovering for a long time. Its key distinction and fundamental strength lies in its original artistic stance, which is a big promise for Jana Sen’s future musical challenges.
Lineup
Jana Sen – vocals
Severa Gjurin – backing vocals
Dror Orgad – classical guitar
Boris Bizjak – flute
Robert Grubar – classical/acoustic guitar
Tjaša Kastelic – violin
Marko Jenič – trumpet
Jalen – keyboards
Jure Tori (Orleki, Tori trio) – accordion
Andrej Hočevar – bass guitar
Tomaž Rebernak(Pero Lovšin) – drums
Primož Malenšek – percussion
Igor Koštal – lyrics for the track “Srce”
Production
Jana Sen
Track list
1. Vse tiho spi
2. Pogrešam te
3. Le lepe pesmi
4. Ples
5. Srce
6. Čutim te
7. Ljubezen – bolezen
8. Lutke
9. Da bi
10. Dva srca
11. Ni voda hotela
12. Stara cesta
13. Preko vseh mej
