Jillian Edwards: Headfirst

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Sometimes the fun of scouring the Internet to discover unsigned talent is to see how long it will take for a particular diamond to get snatched up by a label because it is so obvious the singer or band is inches away from achieving this goal. It is just a matter of which label gets the clue first. Jillian Edwards is one of those artists and her latest release, Headfirst, is going to catch ears sooner rather than later. Containing everything from radio-ready pop to ambient folk, lyrics that explore the euphoric highs and crushing lows of love, and angelic vocals to top it all off, Headfirst is an offering that begs to be heard.

“Keep You Here With Me” has all the upbeat melodies and finger snapping required to help augment and validate Edwards’s case for thinking of ways to keep a certain someone with her, and the lyrics in the acoustic “With You” are delivered in such a clever and subtle way that you sometimes forget that they are filled with a deep longing. “Birthday” combines diary-style commentary on a failed relationship with slow-boiling epic rock sounds near the climax to paint one of the album’s most stark portraits. The dazzling, head-turning ambient folk of opening track “Once Should Be Enough” enthralls with both its slow and steady hypnotic sounds and lyrics that detail Edwards’s unsuccessful attempts to get over a relationship. Check these lyrics out for a sense of the angst (though it is thankfully empty of any melodrama) and how even she knows she needs to let a guy go even if she can’t quite do it yet:

Believe me, friend
You are not the only one
Who is ready for me
To stop singing these kinds of songs
But I think the melodies
With your name on them
Are almost done
This might be the very last one

Edwards’s vocals have a pristine, songbird-like quality to them whether she is reaching for the stratosphere or singing quietly and evenly. The tracks exude the right amounts of joy, sadness and uncertainty to tell the stories they need to tell in the strongest way possible, the music choices are diverse and broad, and the lyrics are often arresting. Headfirst is the sign of a massive talent that is ready to be released to the world. The question is: Who’s going to be the first one to figure that out?

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