Freak Scene #29: New Albums From Jennifer Hill and Christa Joy
A Guide to Music in Western Mass. (and sometimes Connecticut)
This week in Freak Scene, we check out the torch-song vibe of Love Bomb by Farmington, Conn., singer Jennifer Hill, and the rootsy new release from Easthampton’s Christa Joy & the Honeybees.
In another era, Jennifer Hill could have been a cabaret singer. Come to think of it, that’s kind of what she’s doing now. The Farmington singer dials in a bluesy torch sensibility on Love Bomb, her first album after a string of EPs in the early 2000s, followed by a 15-year break.
The break came while Hill was heading the Connecticut offshoot of SWAN Day (Support Women Artists Now), which involved, well, supporting women artists with concert showcases, festivals and other activities. All the while, she was working on Love Bomb, an album she was two years of hard work in the recording studio and 20 years of writing. It’s a 10-track collection of hard-won wisdom that Hill has accrued over the years, and though it sounds like she has the right to be angry or vengeful, she tilts more toward a spirit of defiance and resilience.
Hill has a dramatic streak that manifests in the way she wraps her strong, bright voice around musical arrangements based on piano and steeped in horns and guitar, as if she’s sashaying across the stage late at night in a little club while smoke drifts through moody blue lighting. Her vocals ring off the rafters on “Made of Candy” over guttural, burlesque-show trumpet and a rolling piano vamp. On “Erased,” one of a handful of slower jams, restrained piano accompaniment contrasts with the wringing emotion in her voice as she recounts a destabilizing relationship.
As we heard in Freak Scene #14, June Millington adds rip-roaring slide guitar to album opener “Gemma Star,” while guitarist Tim Palmieri contributes subtle licks to “Baby Child.” They’re worthy collaborators, though Hill is the star here. After too long away, she’s taking back her power, and heading for center stage.
Christa Joy Blends Heartache and Wit on New LP
Christa Joy finds a striking balance between yearning heartache and wry wit on her new album, Christa Joy & the Honeybees. The Easthampton singer tilts toward classic country weepers, shot through with a droll sense of humor. Take the opener, “Omens,” where pedal steel guitar augments a rootsy musical arrangement as Joy wonders how she missed the signs that her lover was ready to bail, leaving behind “just me, Jim Beam and I guess you don’t want the dog.”
Two songs later, she’s overwhelmed by abundance on “God Gave Me Two Babies.” It’s a breezy song carried by electric guitar twang and the chucking of a banjo as Joy reflects on the accoutrements of motherhood: “God gave me two babies,” she sings on the chorus. “My brain is hazy / I’ll be like this for years.” Not every song has a sardonic streak: the tender “North Star” digs beneath the harried all-at-once pace of being a parent as Joy sings of the deep, sustaining bond with her kids, accompanied by glimmers of guitar and gentle keyboards, and no you’re getting all choked up.
Along with her deeply felt original tunes, Joy works up a first-rate homage to Black Francis (“such a hero and local hero to me,” Joy wrote online) with a cover of the Pixies’ “Here Comes Your Man.” On the surface, the Honeybees’ version matches the wistful tone of the album, but there’s nothing but delight underneath.
Upcoming Concerts
Lux Deluxe have a new album on the way — their first in seven years — and a release show booked at the Iron Horse on Nov. 29. The East Pointers are there Nov. 11, while Willie Nile returns Nov. 18. Erin McKeown stages her “F*ck That! Anti-Holiday Spectacular Dec. 7. Fantastic Cat is there Dec. 13, which is great news because a) their new album is excellent (I wrote about one of their tracks for this round-up in the Boston Globe), and b) I missed them at Green River this summer. More information here for all of those.
Oh He Dead, the Washington D.C. indie-soul band, play Oct. 13 at the Drake in Amherst. John Splithoff is there Nov. 16. More information here.
Yemen Blues come to the Webster Underground in Hartford Sept. 13; more information here.
The Marigold Theater in Easthampton hosts Tetchy, Ex Temper and Aaron Noble & The Clones tonight (Friday), Padded Waltz, Intac and Deep Seize Saturday (Aug. 31) and Widemouth and B’Shara Wednesday (Sept. 4). There’s more information here.
Israel Vibration and Roots Radics play Hawks & Reed in Greenfield Saturday (Aug. 31) with Dub Apocalypse and DJ Iganic. Cut Chemist is there Thursday, Sept. 5. Information here.
Next week: Jeffrey Foucault is back with a new album and a show Sept. 6 at the Iron Horse.
Freak Scene is always seeking submissions! You can send music for coverage consideration to erdanton at gmail or reply to this email. Check out these guidelines first.
Thank you for reading. Please feel free to share this newsletter and spread the word. Previous issues of Freak Scene are available in the archive.