"out on the rocky cliff staring out to begin"
Darren Jessee, I imagine sleeps well at night just knowing that he shaped (co-founded) and was drummer for the wonderfully impactful alt pop group Ben Folds Five. So how must it feel to be fully entrenched in his own solo second half especially one so moving and ultimately equally inspiring.
"I always felt like I needed to have a band," Jessee says. "There's something about being with a group of people that gives you confidence. But secretly I wanted to have the courage to be a solo troubadour."
He uttered those words after releasing "The Jane, Room 2017", his first full length under his own name in 2018 recording on a six track in his NYC apartment. In the time between Ben Folds Five ended (in 2000) and 2018, Jessee fueled his artistic passion and built up his creative muscles in numerous prolific ways, releasing records under the name Hotel Lights, played drums for Sharon Van Etten, been a member of the Durham-based band Hiss Golden Messenger, and contributed to The War on Drugs' "A Deeper Understanding" which won a Grammy (2017).
Darren Jessee will release his second full length as 'Darren Jessee' called "Remover" due to drop October 16th (2020) and the track, Cape Elizabeth, with it's pushed forward acoustic strumming and Jessee's earnest poetry that might have you dress the melodies with an Irish brogue (at least for a few moments) is simply beautiful. Gentle orchestration flows in like a lush fog during the pre-chorus or shape shifting alternative verse (I am not sure which) to a questioning beautifully moving chorus, "What am I gonna do...? the deepest blue" that has a purely pop lilt. Jessee's melody here and brevity is piercing, sustained and absolutely brilliant. The structure, after all, dictates the emotional impact and artful resonance. Those two lines curled up in his melody embed in your head and heart so much that you will probably (at odd times in the day) feel them and sing them. It is no wonder that this man wrote the chorus to "Brick", one of the defining songs of songs of 1998 with one of the most memorable melodies within the subversive, even polarizing lyrics.
In the end, in a troubadour-esque way, Darren Jessee's Cape Elizabeth is a vast romance with dark edges. A folk ballad with an unconventional structure, a narrative like torn laments on torn pieces of paper dangerously close to an open window about to be swept away. It feels simple and to the point but everything about it is really deeply complex and deeply beautiful.
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
soundcloud
The album, Remover, out Oct 16th 2020
https://www.instagram.com/darrenjessee/
Best known for his work as co-founder and drummer for alt-pop legends Ben Folds Five, Darren Jessee’s music has always given context to the important moments in our lives. His work echoes the candid sensations derived from the densities of his inspirations, though his songs are devoid of lingering influence and emotional artifice. Devastating in its lyrical directness, his work finds nuance and strange beauty in the messier aspects of our lives. And with Remover, his forthcoming follow-up to 2018’s The Jane, Room 217, Jessee continues to redefine the significance of quiet moments filled with grand consequence.
Best known for his work as co-founder and drummer for alt-pop legends Ben Folds Five, Darren Jessee’s music has always given context to the important moments in our lives. His work echoes the candid sensations derived from the densities of his inspirations, though his songs are devoid of lingering influence and emotional artifice. Devastating in its lyrical directness, his work finds nuance and strange beauty in the messier aspects of our lives. And with Remover, his forthcoming follow-up to 2018’s The Jane, Room 217, Jessee continues to redefine the significance of quiet moments filled with grand consequence.
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