Jade Helliwell – ‘Forget the Night’ EP Review
I first featured Jade Helliwell a couple of weeks ago with the brilliant ‘Ask Me To Stay’, a song so good that I had to check out the rest of the EP. One listen of the EP and I knew I had to review that too. Read on to find out what I thought!
‘Forget the Night’ opens with ‘Never Learn’, a song which opens up with an upbeat piano intro, before Jade’s distinctive vocals come in. In some ways her vocals will remind you of Neko Case and this opening track is one that really makes an impact. The lyrics ‘I seem to find a way to smile with each wrong choice I make, so I ask myself is it really a mistake?’ a standout line of a song that will grow and grow on you with each listen.
‘I Have a Good Life’ is one of those feel good, uplifting numbers that UK country artists can be particularly good at. You’ll be singing along to this number, as Jade sings about being happy as she is, with references to her friends and family. As I’m writing this and listening, my foot is tapping, which tells you something about the nature of the song.
The EP sees a real change of pace with ‘Ask Me To Stay’, a much slower, heartbreak number. This change of tempo is very effective, making this gorgeous song stand out even more than it does already. The number really shows off Jade’s vocals and you’ll already know just three tracks in that Jade has a great versatility in her music.
The title track is the fourth of the five tracks. The opening line is brilliant – ‘I just wanna have a quiet drink, when tall, dark, handsome gives me a wink’ and the song stays fantastic from the first second to the last. The song is about drinking to forget about those difficult moments in life, but it’s written in a clever way and has an element of humour too. For me, this is the highlight of the EP and considering the quality of the rest of songs, this is no mean feat.
‘Never Loved Another’ is a song looking back on a relationship and works brilliantly as the final track. I love the way this song builds and builds in intensity for much of the five minutes and the emotion of the track really shows through in the performance, especially in the outstanding final minute and a half.
It never ceases to amaze me just how strong the UK country music scene is and this EP proves that Jade Helliwell is one of the very best artists on the scene. The five track EP starts on a high, but just grows and grows from there and having heard it once, you’ll surely hit the repeat button. ‘Forget the Night’ features that great combination of original and high quality songwriting and brilliant delivery, making it a must buy.
To grab a copy of ‘Forget the Night’ click here
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