Miriam Jones
Between Green and Gone
Quality coming of age album of melodic story-telling.
While Miriam Jones first two albums may have been a little bit too “West Coast” influenced (not really a bad thing), this is the one where she has grown into her own voice and sounds a whole lot more confident in her song-writing, too.
Each track is virtually a short story set to music, and at this point I have to tip my hat to the sharp production of Simon Edwards, who highlights every nuance in the singer’s voice without ever diminishing from the lyrics.
Opening song Train is a really interesting love song that will instantly capture your attention; as will Cracks which follows as it is one of the few songs I’ve ever heard that looks at an affair from one of the protagonists; and it deserves high praise for the delicate way Miriam handles the subject.
Unlike her contemporaries Miriam Jones has surrounded herself with some wonderful musicians on this album; and they gel so well it actually sounds like a Band who’ve played together for years, especially on Float which rocks along in a rocky Alt. Country style; reminiscent of someone like Neko Case or a young Lucinda.
The album closes with another delicate dissertation, Stay which manages to just stop short of actually being described as ‘epic’ and it’s a great way to close BETWEEN GREEN & GONE.
While Miriam has cast off her pop-rock West Coast cloak of her first two albums; in my opinion this one has a delicate flavour of Carole King in the way Miriam tackles some difficult subjects so sensitively.
Released 2nd Feb 2015
The Rocking Magpie 