[rating=8.00]
With Jillette Johnson’s sophomore album produced by Dave Cobb, who’s worked with current contemporary country heavyweights Jason Isbell, Sturgill Simpson and Chris Stapleton; the expectations have to be high. Nevertheless, Johnson’s powers of self-expression on All I Ever See In You Is Me via Rounder, makes the album a companion piece to another one of 2017’s best records: Leslie Mendelson’s Love and Murder.
Because Johnson’s original material as well as her performances are forthright and plaintive, yet never mawkish, she transcends easy comparisons. The core strength of this record is its continuity, with all the material composed solely by the artist herself and a uniform band (including Cobb as guitarist) present on all the tracks from sessions at (as the credits read) Historic RCA Studios A in Nashville, TN. Beginning with the quietly dramatic solo performance titled “Bunny,” a discernible resolve pervades these eleven tracks, mirrored in the front cover portrait.
This woman’s voice deceptively wispy too, so much so that, when the band kicks in on “Love Is Blind,” an undercurrent of carefully-contained vocal strength becomes readily apparent. No doubt it helps that Cobb participates as part of the band that includes Brian Allen on bass and Chris Powell on drums and percussion, but it’s even more significant that Johnson herself is at the forefront throughout, concentrating on piano with assorted other keyboards judiciously applied as on “Not Tonight.”
Jillette Johnson’s engagement with the musicians only heightens her connection with the material on All I Ever See In You Is Me. While subdued numbers such as “Throw Out Your Mirror” and “Holiday” are somewhat one-colored, it’s ultimately to the author’s benefit to eschew much instrumental ornamentation; the focus can then remain on her work, a wise approach that reveals the potency of an otherwise straightforward composition as “I’m Sorry.”
With few embellishments to distract from this provocative artist, Dave Cobb and engineer Matt Ross-Spang concentrate on magnifying the simplicity of the arrangements. As a result, on a number like “In Repair,” the clarity of the mix represents Jillette Johnson’s natural ability to inspire her co-creators as well as her listeners; the intent is as clear as the import on this, the longest track here at 4:33.
Accordingly, it should come as no surprise that, by the time the title song rolls around as the penultimate cut, the cumulative effect of All I Ever See In You Is Me is absolutely haunting.
