Rating: NNNN
Jenn Grant is on an upswing. The Halifax-based pop singer/songwriter sounds positively peppy on her third album, which is full of charming melodies, playful arrangements and electro-tinged dance beats that leave her folk roots in the dust.
Grant seems to be writing with an audience in mind, a departure from the introspective broken-heartedness displayed on 2009’s Echoes. She adds some grit to her overwhelmingly pretty vocals on How I Met You, a horn-punctuated Motown chorus to All Year – just one of the album’s many standout choruses – and sinister synths on Walk Away that prevent a saccharine overdose and suggest an entirely new direction.
The ability to pull off such fearless variety – softer, intimate folk also makes appearances – is a sure sign of a songwriter who has come into her own.
Top track: All Year
