As you all probably know, Jenn Butterworth has been the go-to guitar player in the (mostly) Scottish trad and folk scene for years now, and a visible fixture in Celtic Connections, playing with almost everyone (not to mention an epic on-the-fly guitar string change on stage during a tune). But as a headlining artist, no – until now.
There’s a special quality in those moments when a remarkable talent, known and respected as a team player, steps into the limelight on their own, playing by their own rules.
It’s extra special when the results are like the music on Jenn Butterworth’s solo debut album that I just have to call fantastic. Her By Design, indeed.
And it’s double extra special when what you get is not what you may have expected.
When the British prog and jazz drum god Bill Bruford (Yes, King Crimson etc) released his first solo album in 1978, it wasn’t a drums galore at all, but music brilliantly written, bold, emotional, sometimes achingly beautiful. It was one of those special x 2 moments when a musician reveals another side of their creativity and comes out even stronger than before.
That element of surprise is as powerful here.
Jenn’s string instrument work is brilliant, of course, as you would expect. But oh heavens what a singer and arranger she is! The album opens with a totally re-thought version of Sandy Denny’s All Our Days, and on this track I feel that Jenn lays down the rules: even when covering songs, she makes them her own; they are hers, by design.
Denny’s original was a 7:30 long, softly lingering piece for vocal and orchestra. Jenn takes the song and turns it into a powerhouse of a piece that flashes into action right off the bat and covers many dynamic regions and colors during its 4:47 duration.
The band plays together beautifully and creates an almost orchestral effect as they negotiate the turns and dynamics of the piece. The string section and the other instruments are perfectly balanced into a tight, vivid unit. Simply wonderful.
All Our Days also shows us Jenn the Arranger. So many ideas, none of them daft, very well executed by the band. I have listened to this song a few times now and with all the detail in it, it just gets better. Plus the fact that the original was vastly different kind of music; Jenn has found a new song inside an older song, and I always love it when that happens. If you do a cover version, this is how you should do it.
And that was just the opening track.
But it all applies to Her By Design as a whole. Whether it’s a lyrical trad tune like Little Sparrow, a folk song like The Housewife’s Lament, or her deeply original song like One In Ten, they’re all her songs here, each one taking you to a place or a journey where the arrangement makes even a simple song glowing and expressive.
Which brings us to what, for me, was the album’s biggest surprise:
Jenn Butterworth is a stupendously amazing singer, period. That is a categorical fact.
With that voice, that presence and that control, she makes every song come alive in vivid colors and deep focus and I’m left wondering WHY isn’t she already on the charts as a singer?
I’m emphasizing that she’s not just competent – she’s very, very, very good. With that vocal quality, she could probably take on folk, pop, country and rock with equal ease. Just listen to all the details and vocal control on the closing track, Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still – that is a very strong performance, by any standard. In this age of autotune, Jenn’s singing is manna from heaven.
Enough praise already? Good – now get outta this blog, get the album and support a really great artist, now gloriously on her own.
https://jennbutterworth.bandcamp.com/album/her-by-design
Her great band deserve their own mention here:
Seonaid Aitken: Violin
Kirsty Orton: Violin
Patsy Reid: Viola
Alice Allen: Cello
James Lindsay: Double Bass, Electric Bass & Moog
Louis Abbott: Drums & Percussion
Signy Jakobsdottir: Percussion
Keir Long: Synths & Pianet
Tom Gibbs: Piano (track 5)
FolkNotes 