Karen Jonas - Butter
Jonas's intensely personal songwriting first grabbed national attention with the release of her critically acclaimed 2014 debut album Oklahoma Lottery, followed by Country Songs in 2016. In 2017, Jonas was nominated for an Ameripolitan Award in the Honky Tonk Female Category, and won Readers' Choice Award for Best Local Band/Vocalist by the Fredericksburg Free Lance-Star in 2017 and 2018. Her music has been lauded around the world.
BUTTER is a superb,diverse album full of real country songs mixed in with ragtime blues,jazz and even a little soul.
It opens with 'Yellow Brick Road' which could be straight out of a Dolly Parton back catalogue. This is a 'proper'country tune of humongous portions.
The subtle harmony with Jeff Covert is sublime,and he remains prevalent through most of the album. Jeff,along with Tim Bray,produced and engineered the album and throughout the recording process he would sing along in the studio.Karen enjoyed his singing so much she included him...lovely touch and rightly justified in my opinion.
Throughout the album we get 'true' country songs in 'Yellow Brick Road','My Sweet Arsonist','Mama's First Rodeo'
Karen also introduces us to some sultry,jazz infused ragtime blues like 'Butter' and 'Oh Icarus'
Then we get the country ballads of 'Gospel Of The Road' 'Dance With Me' 'Kamikaze Love' giving us a superb haunting sound whilst still holding true to the country roots.
The final two tracks of 'Mr Wonka' and 'The Circus' really blend into one with a super production which gives us more of the ragtime blues mixed with jazz and bar room soul but then descends back into a stunning country number.
For Karen —a full-time musician and full-time mother —the album is a personal anthem. Butter is Karen Jonas’s finest combination of melody and message to date, stripped free of artificial ingredients and filers. This is Butter —smooth one minute, decadent the next, and fulfilling throughout.
For me,this album is a superb production and as I stated previously,it is diverse yet still holding that 'true' country sound that is quite rare these days.This young lady should be up the top with the country greats.
RRM RATING: 8/10
RRM STAND OUT TRACKS: THE CIRCUS, YELLOW BRICK ROAD,KAMIKAZE LOVE.