Ellie Jamison sounds like a stripped back version of Gabrielle. Don't
remember Gabrielle? She's a strong, soulful British
vocalist and above all a singer-songwriter that gave us "Dreams", one
of the best tracks on the Magnolia soundtrack that wasn't performed by Aimee
Mann. Granted, Jamison isn't an R&B songstress and she certainly isn't a
pop diva, but her song writing isn't far from the uncertainty and cunningly
thought-out "Dreams" by Gabrielle.
The Suffolk based folk / singer-songwriter sings: "Graduation
day, Dad so proud, But reality starts to kick in. Gets a job in a petrol
station, serving coffee in a cardboard waste land," on the first
track befittingly titled "Cardboard Dreams". It's on this
first track that we realise Jamison is more than an average singer-songwriter,
she has a story to tell and boy does she tell it. The character Jamison depicts
in "Cardboard Dreams" could be any university graduate in the United
Kingdom. She's generalising in her lyrics, and this works with the questioning
themes like 'what's the point?' and 'is this it?'
"Keep on Trying" is a very simple song with a two chord verse /
two chord chorus structure with variances on the C and F. It's the type of
track you would expect to hear in an East Anglian pub in July, not at student accommodation
in Stoke-on-Trent in the middle of February. Jamison has a powerful voice and
this is what she plays off. She knows her assets and uses them to her
advantage. Her song structures and guitar skills may not be up there with the
great female singer-songwriters, Joni Mitchell, Joan Baez and Ani DiFranco;
however Jamison has the style of Tracy Chapman. And her ability of mixing
genres surfaces on the third track "See the World". Jamison takes us
down the route of poetry / spoken word towards the end of "See the
World". It's not quite Ed Sheeran-esque as Suffolk singer-songwriters will
know, it's a la Patti Smith and the R&B female starlets like Lauryn Hill
and the late Aaliyah.
See the World is Jamison's debut EP and highlights her soulful vocal
and imaginative song writing. The third track "Do You Believe" is
just as scrawny and artistic as a Joni Mitchell track. The guitar progressions
work with the melody and the structure is ear catching. There's an underlying
theme of love on "Do You Believe", rather than the life themed
lyricism of the previous three tracks. It has a slower tempo, but a stronger
atmosphere. The EP ends with "I Ran", a delicate folk track with a
personal touch. Jamison's song writing on See the World seems to lack
personal character and a connection between the listener, but the final track
ends all doubts over Jamison's down to Earth and relatable lyricism.
See the World isn't the strongest EP I’ve heard from an up and coming
singer-songwriter / folk artist, however it's definitely one of the easiest to
decipher and sit down and just listen to. Jamison is sitting on top of a hit
with the EP opener "Cardboard Dreams". I
can definitely see Ed Sheeran taking this, making it his own and making it a
number one single globally. A little fame, a little recognition and a growing
fan base with an average age and IQ which is constantly lowering can be the
difference from underground and mainstream. Jamison isn't like her Suffolk
counterpart, and her lyricism is far more provocative. See the World is
an EP Jamison can sell at her shows, pick up listeners across the country and
perhaps take her to her inevitable debut album.
~Eddie
