Jennifer Terran FULL MOON IN 3. Griselda

Three years ago a singer/songwriter from the USA released an album that blew me (and everybody else who heard it) well and truly away. THE MUSICIAN was unlike anything I’d heard and became our album of the year. Jennifer Terran’s new album, FULL MOON IN 3 has just been released on home turf and is due in Europe early in 2006. It has taken three years to complete, in which time Terran became a mum, while steadily building a fan base in the USA through numerous intimate live shows. FULL MOON IN 3 is a remarkable, beautiful and haunting album which has already been penned in as one of the best albums of 2006. It’s that good…

Full Moon opens the album Terran’s most subtle of piano notes and fragile vocal. The most beautiful melody is accompanied by poetic and reflective lyrics: “When you pop the chain and wait for someday, when there’ll be nothing in the way, shame you recall repeated fall. Then you mop the clock up, humbled and sorry, but this is hardly gonna stop, just what was lost and what it cost. But then I lighten up, and see the vision. Perfect. Round. Like the moon, I just forget…it’s always full. And all those meals I missed. All the dead ends. All the sadness. All the pain…” The music grows louder (with drum beats coming into play) and more affirmative as the song eventually reveals its optimistic side. This is Terran at her best. The American Song follows and is no less revealing of the artist’s feelings and experiences of her home country. It’s a song tinged with sadness: “America, America, unrequited love. Don’t you give a fuck? Can you only hear me when I’m happy?” Terran accompanies herself on piano while Brendan Staton on bass and David Brogan on drums provide the perfect instrumental support. TV On is next up and opens with the most extraordinary drum loop where Terran can be heard in the background yelping in childlike delight at the sound. This beat-laden song is one of her most original yet, and is utterly compelling.

The originality stakes are further lifted with the next song, Opening’s Had. The vibe is like a hurricane as the vocals and instrumentals swirl around Dervish fashion, with miniscule moments of softer reflection. It’s a remarkable track. The Tide is a song that reveals just how expressive Terran’s voice is as she faithfully follows the song’s tone and message. In fact it’s almost as if she is acting out the song’s sentiments; her voice becomes childlike as she recalls sensual memories and dreams.

Reading the sleeve notes I was surprised to find that the songs were written between 1992 and 2003, and so it’s all the more remarkable that this sounds such a complete and fluid narrative. FULL MOON IN 3 will take several listens before its spell is fully cast. But when it does its haunting magic will hit you like a pile-driver; you’ll be drawn back to it time and time again; and realise that it’s an original, sincere and moving musical masterpiece. It also marks Jennifer Terran out as one of the most creative and distinctive singer/songwriters around at the moment. An early contender for album of 2006? I will be surprised if anything released in 2006 will match this for its emotional intensity and sheer beauty, and it will be the first essential release of the New Year.

5/5