4:49pm Thursday 5th May 2005
By Gareth Foreman
It may not have you pogoing around the living room but the album Big Front Door by Kingston based singer songwriter Janis Haves should certainly grab your attention.
And next week the singer will be playing songs from the album at the Ram Jam Club, which can be found at The Grey Horse.
Taking her cue from the likes of Mary Chapin Carpenter and Kate Rusby, Janis Haves has married storytelling, with lilting acoustic music and a voice to die for.
Big Front Door is the second album from Haves and if this is anything to go by then her career is definitely in its ascendancy, for this is the work of a mature artist who can only get better. At the first listen the album didn't really move me, it sounded to much like so many albums I'd heard before in the same genre.
But by the second and third listen it was starting to make an impression as the lyrics began to make themselves heard. With whimsical tales of grandparents, formidable singing teachers and getting older this is a very British album with an American twang.
Everything about the album works because it is so simple, the production is kept to a bare minimum. It would have been very easy to over egg the pudding by adding a string section or dropping a mid-1980s soft rock electric guitar solo onto many of the tracks.
By keeping it simple and mixing the tempos and time signatures Big Front Door keeps your attention, leaving you wondering what's going to happen next.
For me the high points are the opening track Gwendoline whose lyrics will strike a chord with anyone who has had private music lessons. The other track which really stood out was Tall Ship which features some great acoustic guitar playing reminiscent of Al Stewart's style.
If Big Front Door is anything to go by then Janis's appearance at The Ram Jam Club could well be worth catching.
Support comes from fellow songstress Liz Simcock.
Janis Haves, The Ram Jam Club, The Grey Horse, May 10, doors open 8.30pm, £5.
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