It is probably rather accurate to say that none of all music addicts that have spotted “a je ne sais pas quoi” in Jennie Vee's dazzling “Die Alone” EP to the point of rating it as one of the best from 2014, could feel any satisfied with just five songs. Jennie's EP sounded too good to be so desperately short. The sugary gorgeous "Die Alone" signalled the ambitious attempt to revive post punk aesthetics through a bunch of guitar driven captivating songs with velvety introverted vocals blasting painful melodies filled with words calling out a world of nostalgia. Early last year and certainly to tease her growing legion of followers she released the anthemic single "Never Let You Down" in anticipation of a highly awaited full length debut projected for the Autumn of 2015.
I would dare say that Jennie Vee dreamed about making an album like «Spying» since long ago. Maybe since her adolescent years spent in a desolate Canadian mining town. Jennie's debut album sounds not only to the exorcisement of a permanent wish to escape, a clear statement about her undeniably notorious core of musical influences, but also a testimony of an evolving growth process of sonic maturity.
«Spying» was written and composed under the omnipresence of The Cure, but also Echo and The Bunnymen and Jesus and The Mary Chain. Examples of this throughout the album tracks are unequivocal: Spying; Wicked; Toys; Dreamtime; So Hard; Sleep it Off; Kiss The Dust and even Rock n Roll has flashes from The Cure. Apart from that there are some Belly, Hole and Lush, but incomparably less influential in the aesthetics of «Spying» than Jennie's inspirational trident.
I would dare say that Jennie Vee dreamed about making an album like «Spying» since long ago. Maybe since her adolescent years spent in a desolate Canadian mining town. Jennie's debut album sounds not only to the exorcisement of a permanent wish to escape, a clear statement about her undeniably notorious core of musical influences, but also a testimony of an evolving growth process of sonic maturity.
«Spying» was written and composed under the omnipresence of The Cure, but also Echo and The Bunnymen and Jesus and The Mary Chain. Examples of this throughout the album tracks are unequivocal: Spying; Wicked; Toys; Dreamtime; So Hard; Sleep it Off; Kiss The Dust and even Rock n Roll has flashes from The Cure. Apart from that there are some Belly, Hole and Lush, but incomparably less influential in the aesthetics of «Spying» than Jennie's inspirational trident.
It is no surprise that we find luxurious bass lines and rhythms in the Simon Gallup/ Les Pattinson style; ringing reverb-hampered guitars, barbed riffs and splendorous pop punk hooks along with memorable sweeping choruses and steady viral drums all this finished with glamorous dripping-honey vocals of Jennie Vee calling for a blend of Kazu Makino and Toni Halliday voicings.
«Spying» is that sort of album that could only be genuinely made from scratch by a musician who has impeccable awareness of what is needed to keep clean, survive and win in the bonfire of vanities of the frequently flammable artistic world. «Spying» as far as we understand it is the triumph of Jennie Vee from Ontario to East Side Manhattan.
The triumph of someone who is a killer bass player, dominates the six strings and has knowledge of the phases of the music, from crafting process and composition to recording and mixing, but also someone who knew how to surround herself with very good musicians like the master of pop punk guitar Richey Rose, but also with the magnificent blue haired fine art photographer Katrin Albert the mastermind behind Jennie's fashionable aura.
«Spying» definitely stands out as one of the most pleasurable and finest albums of 2015 that could easily pass as a best of and this puts pressure on Jennie Vee following album.
INDIEVOTION RATING: 7,5/10