Elly Roberts reviews
Jem: Finally Woken
Distributed by
ATO/BMG
- Cat.no: ATO0016
- Released: March 2005
- Rating: 10/10
Heard the one about the talented girl who left the valley to climb a mountain?
If not, you soon will. That’s exactly what funky Welsh chanteuse Jemma Griffiths
has done - but it took almost five years to get there. Originally from Penarth
and temporarily based in LA in search of her dream, the brunette babe is flying
high in the USA.
With this debut release, she’s also flying the Welsh flag, as she takes Dido
and Evanescence head on. With brilliant new radio-friendly single ‘They’ hitting
the major playlists, and back-up album Finally Woken (selling over 200,000
copies so far), all is set for Jem to become the ‘next big thing.’
With the support of an RCA world-wide deal behind her, the world is finally
waking up to the hip-hop fan. Jem (right) has seriously toiled over compromising her
roots to become more accessible, without losing her inspiration and completely
‘selling out.’
During her law studies at Brighton University, she caught the music bug.
Eventually, she set up and ran Marine Parade Records in Brighton. In 1999 she
decided to branch out her talents by moving back to her native Wales a year
later, where she got stuck in to some demo tapes. This followed an enrollment
with the New Deal For Musicians.
After two frustrating years she relocated to LA where she presented a CD to
influential DJ Nic Harcourt of KRCW, who gave it heavy rotational play.
Things rapidly developed from there.
With this tasty debut she appears to have found the winning balance, becoming
the darling of the music press. In 2004, Jem became the most successful British
female debut artist in the US.
On offer here is clever blend of luscious ballads, folk, electronica dubbed
‘trip-hop. ’Mustn’t forget the gorgeous string accompaniments either.
Top tracks: They, the reggae tinged Wish I (potential next single)
and Flying High.
This is seriously cool.
Weblinks:
Jem-Music.net /
ATO Records.com
The full list of tracks included are :
DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV
connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and
played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.
Review & concert pics copyright © Elly Roberts, 2004-2008.
