It seems implausible to believe that it was only a few months ago that #TEAMw21 were sitting in the warm November Nashville sunshine with Jenn Bostic herself, when she announced she was going back in to the studio to record some songs that would feature on a new EP to come out in time for her UK tour. It was election day in the US.
The "Love Me Right" EP is a return to more poppier material, in fact it all but smashes its way out of the speakers, this is a lively collection that is full of joi de vivre that will see Jenn fans dancing in the aisles once she works out a way of how to translate them in to a live environment.
"Becoming" is a combination of drums, real and electronic along with Jenn at the piano where she is firing out lyrics
"Take it back to the beginning
When life was simple and your heart was pure
Before, the earth had a chance to break you
Back when you lived for the hustle
You felt a fire in your veins burn through, when you
Had a dream you believed could come true"
The chorus is celebratory - by the time we return to it for the final time there will be a virtual choir backing Jenn
"Out of breath and out of time
You're feeling stretched so thin
And you're wondering why
Stop be still and soak it in
And while you're running
Don't miss beautiful becoming"
"Don't Give Up On This" opens to a most urgnt sounding piano intro,
"Heavy eyes but you can't sleep
So tired that you can't dream
Turning years into hours
Giving time over power
Got to love it when a good plan
Ends up in the trash can
The fanning the flames, the self talking shame
Don't know how much more you can take"
The chorus when it arrives sees Jenn announce the words one at a time leaving a clear gap each time, they land like punches they come with such force
"DON'T GIVE UP ON THIS - PROMISE ME YOU WON'T LET GO SO QUICK
The sound then becomes lush with strings
"I know you're barely getting by
But hope is waiting on the other side
Saying "Don't Give Up On This"
Tthe second verse handed over to Benj Heard in a swirl of strings
"Getting lost in the details
So worried that you might fail
Your waiting because
Forget what you want
You've already got what you need"
It is surely Jenn's most easily accessible song for a while - this is cracking stuff. It has an sheer musicality about it an insistency that is going to see it smash it's way into your favourite Jenn Bostic tracks it is that good
"Just Keep Steppin" is as relentlessly upbeat a dance track as you could wish for, it instantly conjures up a video of Jenn just gliding around as she sings, encouraging people to keep dancing. It is infectious good time music and even sees Jenn sing the unlikely line "Shake your booty!".
"Love You Right" the title track is another souldful joy inducing toe tapper bursting to the brim with energy. It sees Jenn firing out the lyrics at times like machine gun fire, they all but ricochet off the wallls, and also thrown in the mix is one glioriously extended note.
The intro of slightly synthy horns punches out a rhythm as Jenn joins the fray to daclare
"Oh I'm in love - never felt this way with no-one
So take a look , I'll go anywhere you're going
Feels like,- my heart is beating on the - outside"
The opening and close of that third line are delivered at volume adding to the onslaught from the horns
It is always notoriously more difficult to write happy songs than sad ones so just revel in the good time vibe that this one radiates out.
Not all break ups drive downdeat sad songs and "Shake It Up - ( no not that one), closes out the EP and sees Jenn assuming the role of someone needing to to find something to take away the loss, during ife after a split. It is had to know what to admire the most, the snazzy word play oe the way theJann wraps her voice around delivering them.
"Baby once I'm living in the house on the hills
With a view and a pool, I won't think about you
Driving down the highway in a Beener that hums
Lost in the worries of a Tom Petty song
Baby when I'm sailing the seas on a yacht
Maybe if I try some Louis Vuitton
Thinking I might get myself a new tattoo
So I can be over when I was with you"
The second verse is if anything even more snappy and a little quirky
"I could get a puppy have it sleep in my bed
I need something to love, like my therapist says
Got myself a plant, it died after a week
Just like you it made it too much for me
Wonder if I'll ever get out there again"
The chorus spells out then need for change
"Got to shake it uo , to shake you off
I need a new habit, so that I can't stand it
Wishing I could make my heart wake up
So I could fall out of love
I need a new addiction, I'm on a mission
To shake it, shake it - up!"
It's a five song belter of an EP, that should hel pme these forthcoming tour dates even more special than they were going to be anyway!.
