The network, social media and streaming services, as far as I am concerned, have very few positive sides. In the music world, over the years, they have done a lot of damage especially to physical shops, alas. However, there are also some positive aspects and in recent months I have noticed. Thanks to the social media and my reviews that bounced in groups and among American fans of independent music, I got to know every day new artists, new passionate friends like me and this thing grows every day. Here is this very long preamble to tell you that I met the Texan Kayla Jane in one of these fan groups (actually it was the Whiskey Myers fan group). Right there was the video of this blonde girl and her acoustic guitar at home singing the cover of Broken Window Serenade, one of the most tragic and intense rock poems of American rock music today. A blow to the real soul. An intense, exciting voice, that mesmerized. Since that day I met her virtually, I follow her live on social media and finally after a single released last year, here I am to tell you about her debut album Filthy Hands. It’s not always easy to go from singing live to the recording studio, I guess it’s very different not to immediately have the audience’s response, to know that there is a reaction. Kayla Jane makes it seem like the most natural thing in the world and from the many live shows I’ve heard there’s no difference but a yes. The production that leads his vocals, Josh Rodgers and Bart Rose at Fort Worth Sound in Fort Worth Texas, is perfect, non-invasive and the band’s support is truly remarkable. Above all I quote a legend of American country music that in this splendid record played the banjo and the dobro guitar, that is Milo Deering. A crystalline but also dusty sound at the right point. We come to the 12 pieces of this debut, a record that is a mix of country and rock with soul that flows in the voice of this girl. The real protagonist of these poems that are his songs, so intense, so expressive, enveloping and powerful at the same time. A real talent. Just press play and the mellow notes of Flowers in October wrap around the speakers until Kayla Jane’s uvula takes the proscenium accompanying us in a song that tastes of folk-rock ballad, as the subsequent Come Pick Me Up, the instruments seem almost intimidated by the vocal power, it’s a metaphorical image of course but I use it to emphasize that the instrumental part is of the first order but in this record is not the first actress. Kayla is a crooner, her voice is a separate instrument, the absolute protagonist of every song. Moon in Oklahoma is one of my favorites (cover of Zach Bryan song), an energetic country rock with honky tonk flavor in some passages, with guitar on the shields and a nice rhythm and beautiful lyrics. Oklahoma has always inspired remarkable country lyrics, the immensity of nature has an effect on these artists. Splendid also the solo. The title track is the song that most positively surprised me, a powerful sound, a rock soul that in acoustic live obviously did not appear. A piece that for the whole band, live will certainly be a good electric shock for the audience and with this voice then I imagine the intensity. One of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard recently, including lyrics. This girl deserves attention and Texas is always keen on talent, it will certainly be the springboard to conquer the States. It’s the turn of the song that made me fall in love with her voice and that is her very personal interpretation of Whiskey Myers’ Broken Windows Serenade, a poignant ballad that her voice makes her own with character and courage, less rock but shivering. It does justice to a tragic modern poetry, the text is one of the most beautiful I have ever read, so direct and simple but the voice of Kayla gives a feminine facet that obviously lacked the original sung by the great Cody Cannon. I Lose is the acoustic version of her first single released last year, an autobiographical story of absolute narrative power that the acoustic version amplifies, indeed if I have to say it all I prefer it to the original. It’s the sincere admission of a woman who realizes she lost when she fell in love with a violent man who made her feel “a loser of life”. It was not so luck, the woman reacted and came out a new artist, a new and stronger woman, strong as the emotions that gives us. Beautiful piece. We needed a song that would break the tension a bit, that would make the sun shine and here comes the tex-mex of Lunch in Mexico, fun and engaging. The rhythm takes and makes you want to dance under the Mexican sun, maybe on a beautiful beach. Beautiful ballad Waitin on You, in the lenses the expressive power of the voice increases even more. A performance really to be framed that continues with the following songs until the final Waiting on June, between soul and country, a walk in the hot summer sun with Kayla to guide us with its mellow notes and the typical sounds of Texas music. I like to imagine myself listening to this live piece from the stage of Luckenbach’s Old Post Office. Dreaming costs nothing but the price of this beautiful record. Knowing for a few months her voice and her talent, I was looking forward to this debut and I have to say that Kayla Jane confirmed everything and indeed put nuances that I would never have thought but that have really made me appreciate even more this work. Her voice certainly will not be forgotten and I hope with all my heart that Filthy Hands puts it on the map of the most interesting news of Texas music and beyond. She deserves it.
Good listening,
Trex Willer by http://www.ticinonotizie.it
(you can find original italian article at this link : https://www.ticinonotizie.it/240278-2/ )