Jadea (pronounced Jay-da) Kelly spends her time writing and living between rural Ontario, Canada and Los Angeles. Home is where the heart is, but California is where she rediscovered her self-confidence.
Her fourth studio album comes six years after her last record, ‘Love & Lust’. It was produced by a collection of artists, including Aaron Goldstein, Joel Schwartz, Rich Jacques and Joe Moralez.
The 13 original songs acknowledge her roots but suggest that true freedom lies in having the courage to start anew elsewhere. It is clearly a personal record but her experiences are not rendered with any great universality or passion.
It begins with the declaration in Driveway that she is “done running from all that I’m running from” and ends with the track Running To You.
The title Stupid Goddamn Face is promising but turns out to be another (silly) love song. Any Old Boat finds her dreaming of sailing off with a lover into the Spanish sunset.
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A sample lyric from the title track sums up the ‘hello birds-hello sky’ mood of many of the songs: “You smiled at the horses, and how they run against the sun, knowing all along I was one of ‘em”. The new Patti Smith she ain’t!
Her gentle take on Americana is a long way from Alternative Country and has a very laid back, insipid feel.
Given this easy listening flavour, it comes as quite a surprise to learn that Kelly has also toured and recorded with Canadian heavy metal group Protest the Hero. Some of that band’s rage and volume might have energised this album.
Jardea Kelly’s website
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