CD Review – Jen Olive
Warm Reboot
Ape House Records
The new album from Jen Olive is a dreamscape of acoustic guitar-led craziness that is an album you will either love or hate. “Set it on Fire” is a funky acoustic track that keeps you noddin’ your head, while “Claustrophobe” is more of a whimsical song that sounds like a more controlled Bjork. The album has a lot of Bjork-like tendencies, except with a guitar instead of electronics. The vocal swirls and sonic instrumentation will either enrapture or infuriate. Coming from a family of jazz musicians (her uncle is the saxophone lead in the Count Basie Orchestra), the syncopation is expected and her guitar skills are above most acoustic females today, but her voice and the songs as a whole are avant-garde enough that it will shun potential fans and make what would be casual fans, fanatics. The choice is yours. As for me? I’ll pass.
