Check out release info for Eilen Jewell’s brand new album
Eilen Jewell
New Collection Called ‘Gypsy’
Due Out 16 August 2019
Honey-voiced songstress Eilen Jewell will be releasing her first collection of original material since 2015. Gypsy will be available on August 16 via Signature Sounds.
Reportedly this album will be both personal and much more political.
The disc kicks off with “Crawl,” a rollicking country rocker that revels in indecision:
“I want to crawl right out of my skin
Go back in time, cake walk in red fringe
I want solitude, don’t want to be alone
Want to put down roots, want to be a rolling stone“
I’ve been writing bits of that one for close to eight years now,” says Jewell. “I’ve felt that polarity in my life a lot, ever since I can remember, and I wanted to capture that discomfort and angst. Putting it into words and music felt cathartic. Now, whenever I feel that tug-of-war, I can sing my song about it.”
Another track “Witness” was written quickly in a Central Idaho cabin. “I was still a relatively new mother, and experiencing this frequent opening of my heart, realizing that it had been clenched like a fist for so long. Little ones have this way of disarming us, and so do little moments that startle you, like a beautiful sunset or a bird song … but that openness is always there. You don’t have to seek it out, you just have to choose to open yourself up to it.”
Agitated by the state of the world, Jewell has felt compelled into protest music on Gypsy – “79 Cents (The Meow Song)” on sexism and discrimination, the rallying cry of “Beat the Drum”. In another distinctive move, Jewell played electric guitar on Gypsy, the first time she’s recorded on the instrument.
“I often resent that feeling of being pulled in different directions, but without that pull, life is like a guitar string that’s not taut,” Jewell concludes. “A loose string makes a terrible sound.”
Background
Eilen Jewell had lead a tight quartet for many years, blending influences of surf-noir, early blues, classic country, folk and 1960’s era rock ’n’ roll. The group has shared stages with the likes of Lucinda Williams, Loretta Lynn, Mavis Staples, Wanda Jackson, George Jones, Emmylou Harris, and Blind Boys of Alabama. In addition to six of her own full-length albums, Jewell has released two albums with her country-gospel side-project, the Sacred Shakers; a tribute album to Loretta Lynn (titled Butcher Holler); and a recent album of rare blues covers, Down Hearted Blues.
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Check out release info for Eilen Jewell’s brand new album
