Supernatural - Jont Album Review
Photo: Geraldine Pezet
Album Review
Second rate Damien Rice tries hard enough, but doesn’t quite get there.
Imitation is the greatest form of flattery – Damien Rice will be chuffed.
Uber miserablist Damien Rice casts a long shadow over Supernatural, both vocally and musically. Jont’s third album does have some very good moments though, but unlike his musical stable mates Rice and fellow Londoner David Ford, Jont fails to really hit the heartstrings when it’s needed, which is why the aforementioned succeed. He may forever be in their slipstream because of the lack of originality. Supernatural is pleasant enough an album without doubt, with some acute tender and intimate moments. He’s not the greatest of songwriters or singers, but manages to put enough into it.
As a poet, Jont can muster up some fine lyrics. It’s when they’re matched to the music it occasionally fails. Like Rice he can create exquisite melodies. The title track stamps his melancholic mindset via soft piano which eventually builds and falls gracefully, exiting on a neat if restrained crescendo. Single Candlelit (out 21April) has a Lou Reed template, particularly the vocal and double bass, moving into an accomplished shuffle al a Jack Johnson. The album’s gem is the sumptuous love song Sweetheart, where his singing is slightly more challenging in an understated (Rice) way, and should be the next single by a long shot. Suzette a hushed ballad is equally as gorgeous, but like most of the album, lacks that ‘killer’ moment. The next three, Another Door Closes, House Of Dreaming and How You Do Nothing are classic Rice territory, simple balladeering with the latter having (sorry) trademark Rice string backing. Another World is more of the same really, but slightly more effusive and gushing, full of summery melodies.
File under: Rice and Ford do it better.
