Jim Jones “Daylight & Stars’ (Independent, 2009)

Devonian debut delight

It’s always a big ask for anyone from Cornwall to admit that anything decent comes out of Devon, but sometimes something is so good that you just have to grit your teeth and get on with it. This is one of those times. A sidekick of Peter Bruntnell (who he’s enlisted to produce and play), Jim Jones’ debut album is a mighty piece of work. Although at times it’s a little too Bruntnell-esque (notably on “Winter Song”, which could be an outtake from Bruntnell’s “Murder of Crows”), and it includes an unnecessary semi-instrumental bit of mucking about (“A Cornish Western”) the quality of the songwriting and the delicate sparseness of the playing is outstanding.

Two songs in Jones brings the big guns to bear with “Road To You”, a haunting pledge of love that has a passionate and plaintive chorus that puts the rest of the album in severe danger of going unheard as the repeat button is toyed with. Strength of will pays off though, in particular for the aching and hypnotic “Treading Water” and the closing gut punch of “Illuminate”, where Jones sings like it’s his last song on earth.

Throughout the playing is delicate and thoughtful, and Bruntnell marshalls a diverse collection of instruments, particularly Dave Little’s beautiful harmonium, into a subtle and perfectly coherent whole. The centre of everything though is Jones. A writer with serious talent, each song here has something interesting to say and an interesting way of saying it, and it all adds up to a very good debut album indeed.

Date review added:  Saturday, June 13, 2009
Reviewer:  Jeremy Searle
Reviewers Rating:
Related web link:  Ji m Jones website