Rickie Lee Jones: Sermon On Exposition Boulevard

Elly Roberts reviews

Rickie Lee Jones: Sermon On Exposition Boulevard
Distributed by
New West Records

    Cover

  • February 2007
  • Rating: 4/10

Fifty three year old Rickie Lee Jones’ chart history reads like this: one hit single Chuck E’s In Love in 1979 and 5 UK chart albums between 1979 and 1989.

Now the 2-time Grammy winner returns with a new album, debuting on New West Records.Historically her music has been an eccentric mix of R&B, beat jazz, and folk.

Now comes something, well, different. With a title like The Sermon OnExposition Boulevard, you probably expect some religious connotations,and you’d be right. The song titles also imply it’s a modern day ‘concept’album.

It’s taken nearly two years to surface having been recorded in summer 2005, in California. Its inspiration came from reading Lee Cantelon’s book TheWords, a modern rendering of the words of Christ. Apparently, many ofthe songs on the finished CD are first-time improvisations, intended to capturethe spirit of community and collaboration that seemed to spring from the text.That’s the arty view.


From a purely commercial angle, this album is a none-starter, though her hugefan-base will lap it up. Most songs are Jones collaborations, leaving threesolo efforts from the 13 songs, so it’s not purely a Jones project. OpenerNobody Knows is a cluttered and lacklustre beginning, with littledirection as Jones struggles to keep any kind of quality in the singingdepartment. Fairing little better, Gethsemane, ambles along, though thereis a sweetness about it, with Falling Up proving to be a steady riff -laden ambler.

Musically Lamp Of The Body respectfully possesses great etherealnessand Jones adds a better vocal account, just. On better form, It Hurtsmight even get some serious airplay, as the heavy content lifts into apleasant and accessible form.

Perking things up even further, Tried To Be Man proves to be the bestwith a steady rhythm section from Joey Maramba and Jay Bellerose and sublimelead guitar by Peter Atanasoff. Even better is Circle In The Sand (asingle maybe, to push the album? ) breaks her self-indulgence.


Donkey Ride is an acoustic-led hippy excursion (finger cymbals and allthat),and the album’s serious low-point. You could almost dismiss the nextcouple of songs as fillers. Road To Emmaus is another hippyfied effort:an instrumental that meanders into nothing of any particular importance.However, she does end on a deeply emotional highpoint, an awkward strippedballad, where she exudes all the ‘pain’ she can muster.

She’s been a cult artist for a long time now, and that’s where she’s probablydestined to remain, principally due to some complex arrangements, and mostlyun-inspiring songs.

As an idea it has to be applauded, but the results aren’t dazzling.

Weblink:rickieleejones.com


The full list of tracks included are :

1. Nobody Knows My Name
2. Gethsemane
3. Falling Up
4. Lamp Of The Body
5. It Hurts
6. Where I Like It Best
7. Tried To Be A Man
8. Circle In The Sand
9. Donkey Ride
10. Seventh day
11. Elvis Cadillac
12. Road To Emmaus
13. I Was There

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