Boston-based Jen Kearney welcomes listeners into the lush world of her creation with her EP Atlantic.
In Atlantic, Jen Kearney shows off her vocal chops in a tight EP that spans genre and style. The setup of the EP allows listeners to follow along the roadmap that vocalist and keyboardist Kearney uses in her approach to her songs.
With a catchy four-note intro, Atlantic starts off strong. The first track, “The Magician,” unfolds with a few measures of an instrumental intro. A samba-esque beat, driven by elaborate layers of percussion and flute ornamentation, sets the stage for Kearney to captivate listeners with her rich voice. The atmosphere of the track is perhaps further cemented by what seems to be a nod to the famous bossa nova tune “The Girl from Ipanema.” The brief synth interpolation of the melody and lyrics like “I’ll dress you up in feathers / Put a python around your neck” trigger a sensory memory of tropical feeling.
Each line Kearney sings in “The Magician” is adorned with a cliched aspect of a magician’s show, such as “You’re the bunny I’ll pull out of the hat” or “We’ll shuffle through the years / Of illusion and sleight of hand.” In the instrumental solo break, a Stevie Wonder-esque synthesizer floats over the rest of the soundscape. A backdrop of luscious aural textures is sustained with the layering of chimes and bongos. The strings that come in with Kearney’s voice after the break serve as another layer of support that quickly fades out before listeners get too familiar with the sound. With the words “I’ll make you disappear,” the first track comes to an abrupt end with playful wordplay.
“Spinning” begins with a strings-padded introduction, transitioning seamlessly from the silence at the end of “The Magician” and reintroducing the foreshadowed strings of the previous song’s chorus. This song, however, has a more clear-cut rock groove, allowing Kearney to unveil a different facet of her vocal command. “Spinning” also begins with an instrumental intro that becomes a motif for the rest of the song. In the instrumental break that occurs halfway through the song, instead of a synthesizer like the last song, we get an electric guitar solo with a tone that contrasts Kearney’s rich voice but complements the melodic choices she makes.
Five minutes into the song, Kearney begins an emphatic build-up in a hook where she questions whether she should continue a love affair that leaves her more disoriented than comforted: “Should I let it go / In the undertow / Should I let it slide / In the riptide.” After the last repetition of this hook, Kearney’s powerful vocals cede to the soft instrumental outro. Once again, the music engages in subtle wordplay, if listeners choose to interpret the outro as Kearney letting go of control.
With these first two songs, listeners may begin to deduce the formulaic approach Kearney takes in this project. She begins her songs with motifs that are not only significant in constructing the mood and atmosphere of the entire piece, but are ones that we will return to several times under her guidance. Then, Kearney leads us into an instrumental break that interpolates the melodies that she sings. After the breaks, Kearney’s voice returns to sing another verse or grand refrain, adorned with slight differences, like a key change or a lyric shift. These elements occur through every song in the EP, and in an act of active listening, listeners can deconstruct Kearney’s craft by identifying them.
In contrast with the first two songs about love, “In the Neighborhood” packs a catchy punch in a narrative about gentrification and how a once familiar neighborhood has been undergoing change. Once again, Kearney’s formula is evident; her instrumental introduction provides the context of chordal and rhythmic structure that will appear in the song. The brass ornamentation establishes a much funkier sound, further accentuated by the guitar solo. The notes are shorter, and the phrasing of both the vocal and guitar solo encompass a harsher timbre than earlier. In “In the Neighborhood,” the lyrics “The silence of these lambs is deafening” is bookended with cuts of all other accompaniment, leaving listeners no choice but to hone in on the lyrics.
Atlantic showcases the versatility of Jen Kearney’s voice. Although all four songs seem to follow a similar roadmap made up of a motif intro, instrumental solo break, variations on the last verse/chorus, and wordplay, each iteration of the roadmap leads to a new destination of musical flair. Kearney’s approach is a commonly used songwriting tool, but Atlantic is a testament that a formula does not limit an artist’s ability. The framework of this EP allows Kearney a platform to show off her strengths that span styles, not adhering to boring expectations. Atlantic offers only a sample of Kearney’s many capabilities, and leaves you wanting more.