| Call it Jessica Bailiff, Untitled or anything you want; the third album from Jessica Bailiff exceeds the promise of her first two albums. Simultaneously clearer and murkier, it features a more acoustic focus and experimental sound placement. Recorded at home with help from Jesse Edwards (Red Morning Chorus) and former bandmate Noel Keesee, the album was realized between Sept. 2001 to Feb. 2002. Two songs feature the violin-uke (most notably the stark "Hour of the Traces"), there is a tin whistle on a few tracks, piano, a few computer fx, drums, smeary guitars and even sitar.
Jessica Bailiff describes her new album as being about "...stagefright, dreams, loss of creative energy/desire, love & time, living in the same place all your life, ghosts, near-death experiences, etc..." After recording two albums with the members of Low, Jessica Bailiff has created a direct, stripped-back album that showcases her strengths in both songwriting and arragements. Chris Nosal wrote in Philadelphia City Paper that "Bailiff merges the best of rock, folk and genuine sonic exploration into a loud and powerfuyl whisper." David Keenan wrote in The Wire that "Bailiff has succeeded in creating a singular soundworld where frail, intensely personal wordage combines with hurricane sound." |