Review Text
Jane Taylor, the Bristol songstress who famously caused floods of congratulatory e-mails and calls to pour in to the Johnnie Walker show on BBC Radio 2, after just one play of her song 'fall on me' hit the airwaves, has just released a brand new album, 'Compass'. Two years ago, Jane's debut album 'Montpelier' managed to hit BBC national radio when Johnnie Walker decided to play the opening track from an album he found on his desk called 'Montpelier' because he liked the cover (a charcoal sketch of her street, which Jane had doodled herself). The response from the listeners was enormous, highly unusual for an 'unknown', so Jane was invited in to perform a live session on the show and there began the journey that took her out of her bedroom and into the world. What was so inspiring about this particular story was that the album had been made on a shoe-string and in a barn, with all manufacturing costs financed by pre selling the album to her dedicated fan base, (which she'd home grown from the city of Bristol). Jane had no label, no distribution deal, no agent or manager. She'd just posted it to BBC Radio 2 and crossed her fingers. So fate played a hand and she was invited to play a live session on the show. From there she went on to support Jools Holland, Bill Wyman, Seth Lakeman, Paul Buchanan, Andy Fairweather Low and Paulo Nutini, secured a distribution deal, had a track played on MTV, was featured in 'UNCUT' magazine on a cover CD, and toured the UK and Germany, spreading the word and connecting her music to even more ears. Two years on, she's promoting the release of her brand new album, 'Compass' (released through Bicycle Records), which was made this year with Mercury nominated producer Colin Elliot (famous for his work on the Richard Hawley albums), in Sheffield's famous Yellow Arch studios. The album features a full string orchestra, (borrowed from a session they were playing with the marvellous Tony Christie) the Grimethorpe Colliery Brass band (who performed in the film 'Brassed Off') the Richard Hawley band, a gospel choir, a Steinway piano, a very special rhythm track on a song called 'Cracks',(made up of everything from a rustling bin to the cellists impression of the sound of a dolphin), and of course, beautiful classical and quirky string arrangements from her band Robin Davies, Beth Porter and Feargus Heatherington.. ' Jane Taylor is no ordinary singer songwriter. She has this intangible magic in her voice. The kind that draws you in and holds you right there until the moment you notice that you've forgotten to breathe and then you hear her words (which bizarrely seem to have been written for you), and stand there transfixed like it's a bit of fate that brought you here and I will defy anyone not to leave without a CD or at least humming one of her songs' - Get Rhythm.
