A soft clapping transforms into a powerful, rousing drumbeat at the start of “We Will Not Be Forgotten,” and while the percussive thrust of this track is no more evocative an element than the reverent piano harmony in “My Life” or the pulsating swing of “I Need You Tonight” are, it gives up a truly shining moment among the tracklist of Jennifer Truesdale’s Through the Circle just the same. In Through the Circle, this up and coming singer/songwriter plays with quite a few different styles and genres, but her sound doesn’t come off as scattered as it might appear it would on paper. Truesdale is a student of her medium, and she isn’t about to limit her creative output simply because it would be more marketable to do so.
“River to Nowhere” slinks into focus with a horn arrangement that can’t help but remind listeners of a certain Otis Redding song, but what begins out as a soul ballad quickly transitions into a staggered blues groover inside of the track’s first thirty seconds. Much like “Thinking of You,” “River to Nowhere” takes a minute to find its center, but when it does, it’s just about impossible to put down. Normally, I detest covers of certain artists – the almighty CCR among them – but Truesdale makes it pretty tough for me to hate on her rendition of “Have You Ever Seen the Rain,” which is both wholly different from the original and lovingly tethered to its iconic framework (which, truthfully, is a great feat to accomplish).
Jazz lovers will be particularly fond of the mischievously melodic “Daydreaming,” but if it’s a larger than life vocal that drives you wild, “Moving Mountains” is the sexiest diamond here. Along with the poignant “Sunrise,” I think that “Moving Mountains” somewhat defines who Jennifer Truesdale is as a songwriter more than any other track on Through the Circle does. She’s all about giving her voice the lion’s share of the limelight, and with pipes like hers, she isn’t wrong for doing so. Truesdale is poetic with the verses and the harmonies that she dispatches in this virgin release, and though her LP isn’t the only one worth getting excited about this winter, it would be an all-out lie to say that it isn’t one of the smarter pop records I’ve heard in a long time.
I was never much for “Love the One You’re With” in its old school incarnation, but it gets an engaging upgrade in Through the Circle that makes me question whether or not I was too quick to dismiss the composition as being past its expiration date in the past. If the supple piano and string play doesn’t sweep you off your feet in this record, the smoky voice of Jennifer Truesdale almost definitely will, and I found this out firsthand when analyzing her debut album over the past week. She’s got something that you just can’t teach in a classroom, and if she is able to channel all of her passion into her work through the 2020s, she’s going to find a lot of success awaiting her.
Loretta Kim