Jenny Queen - Girls Who Cry Need Cake

Ohio to Kentucky to London to New York to Sydney, Australia. Jet setter? Army brat? Nope, just a girl who follows her whims and let's the the world wash over her. What's the musical result of this diversity? Her debut album, Girls Who Cry Need Cake. It's a country-rolled, indie rock, heart-broken, heart-breaking down under and down home vibe. 'Well that doesn't explain it at all!' says Jenny Queen. 'It's more like this: I have always loved Gram Parsons and Lucinda Williams, but then in London I had a crush on Hope Sandoval - her voice is just hypnotic. When I lived in NYC I traipsed all over the Lower East Side, catching Elliot Smith at Brownie's (Heatmiser shows) or watching Ryan Adams putting away the Pabst at Lakeside Lounge. They became huge musical influences. And in Australia, Casey Chambers and lesser-known writers like the amazing Jason Walker have given me lyrical inspiration.' Jenny's are songs that combine a youthful naivety with an almost world-weary sensibility, sung with a passion so rarely found these days, that magical sense that suggests the events portrayed happened a milli-second before the singer entered the studio to record. Musically the fit is just perfect with the voice. There's no heavy-handed overplaying, just understated notes and chords right where they're meant to be. It's a record that teases, embraces and ultimately haunts the listener with it's resonance and spirit. Hooking up with Tony Buchen, a muti-talented emerging producer, best known for playing in the Sydney drum and bass outfit, The Baggsmen (formerly The Hive), gave Jenny that slightly off-kilter sensibility she was looking for. 'Tony was an unusual choice for a producer on my record because he doesn't really have a background in alt-country or roots-rock, or whatever, and his background is so different from my own. But he was the perfect call; he brought an entirely fresh perspective to what seems to be turning into a cookie-cutter genre. I just told him, 'think 1970's California Gold', and he was off!' The musicians on the album come from all over the globe. Many of the players were visiting friends from overseas who happened to be in Sydney at the right time and were willing to play for a few beers. 'I think the eclectic group of musicians on the album really help keep that 'different yet familiar thing' I was going for with the album's sound.' 'I'll Bring the pills if you bring the wine/ we'll run her until we cross the state line,' is a lyric that offers an insiders view of the restless desperation to escape the confines of rural America, where Jenny grew up. 'Springsteen was such an important artist for me growing up. He tells stories. No one does that anymore. And they meant so much to me because this is the world I lived in. Always trying to get to someplace better. And I guess I still am. I mean, I'm in Australia, aren't I?' Now, Jenny Queen takes listeners on a journey - to the places where girls who cry get their cake and eat it too. You bring the wine...she's got the rest covered. PRESS: 'Farm girl Jenny Queen from rural Ohio and backwoods Kentucky travelled half-way across the world to Sydney, Australia to record this debut album. The long trip has proved to be more than worthwhile as this is one peach of a record. Produced by Tony Buchen, best known as a member of Sydney drum-and-bass outfit the Baggsmen, there are almost too many stylistic ideas at once here, but Jenny's kindly singing personality and spot-on ear for enjoyable country-folk-pop finally hold the album together with compassion and imagination. With a compelling crop of poignant parables of the heart she comes across as innocent and vulnerable, yet with a certain worldliness unusual in one so new. The opening I'm Drowning is a memorable getting-over-a-relationship song with a haunting, slightly downbeat vibe that is quite irresistible. Other entries of note include the reflective Due South, country-pop flavoured 66 Days; the string-enhanced Lullabye For A Ghost with atmospheric Dobro and cello; and a country-rock effort in Kentucky Turn, a drinking song with a timeless mix of West Coast and bluegrass that works just about right. Though the songs don't always achieve their lofty aspirations of American introspection, Jenny does a striking job reaching as far as she does. Pitched loosely at the alt. Country scene, this is possibly too accessible for that genre and if given the right kind of marketing budget and with a little bit of luck with the ears that matter at BBC Radio 2 or even some of the commercial stations, Jenny Queen could easily make a major UK breakthrough. GIRLS WHO CRY NEED CAKE is a nearly perfect late-summer record: It may not cool you off, but it'll sure give you a reason to enjoy the heat.' **** - Maverick (UK) 'Jenny Queen certainly has the sultry looks that made Shelby Lynne a genre pin-up. She has a fine voice too, as her debut 'Girls Who Cry Need Cake shows. A little more of the Lucinda Williams grit would certainly have helped, but a stunning cover of 'Moby's 'Porcelain' is a definite winner.' - Classic Rock (UK) 'She looks like Catalina, but has to be imbued with far more common sense. Surely the album title says enough, and she has the sweetest lilt in her voice to draw you in. It's a voice of 'youthful naivety with almost world-weary sensibility', as her very own PR sums it up, for once saying it all. That she writes her lyrics on rainy days in Sydney can also explain the bittersweet, reflective motif of sadness that carries through much of this. But it's a lovely, good sadness that only cheers one up. That she can apparently drink men under the table means I just want to meet up with her real soon.' - LAM Magazine (UK) 'Jenny Queen is a singer and songwriter from Australia by way of Kentucky whose debut album, Girls Who Cry Need Cake, reveals a talented writer capable of deftly straddling the Great Divide between roots-pop and contemporary country. Queen is an intriguing singer, blessed with a pure voice capable of conveying the most subtle shift in emotion. Her songs are long on melody - the opening track should, by all rights, be a hit single - and convey an accomplished writer's eye for detail. Such songs about broken romance as '66 Days,' 'Lullabye For A Ghost' and 'Due South' avoid cliches to revel in the sort of narrative twists and turns more common to smartly written short stories. The production is toned just right, down-home enough to illuminate the glimmers of country gold hidden within the tunes, but contemporary enough to support the clinging pop hooks and smart narrative that carry Queen's songs to a place all her own. It's a fine album, and proof, yet again, that Nashville continues to look for love in all the wrong places.' 3 / 4 - Winston-Salem Journal 'Jenny's journey as a singer/songwriter is as improbable as this album's title - originally from Ohio, she now plies her trade in Sydney having stopped off in London and New York en route. This journey has helped produce a singer/songwriter who has elements of both country and folk in her music, and who stands out against her obvious North American contemporaries. Stylistically she sits comfortably between Patty Griffin and Kathleen Edwards, a little alt-country but with the understated approach of a folky singer/songwriter, and she strikes the perfect balance with subtle country elements and an open, uncluttered sound that let's the melodies and sharp narratives stand out. This understated and confident feel is continued in her delivery, there are no grand gestures or vocal affectations, and her voice is rich and strong but with a slightly melancholic and fragile edge that is perfect for this material. There's a subtlety and lightness of touch throughout the disc, and the production is exceptionally good - in general things are kept beautifully simple even where other producers may have opted for a more bombastic approach. The opening track is a perfect example of this; it's a strong song