Release Date: October 9, 2007
Label: Animus 7 Music
Related Sites:
· Official Site
Grade: B-

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Music Review: Jenn Franklin, "Errors & Admissions" EP
by Paul Schultz
Published: October 17, 2007
Jenn Franklin re-releases her six-song EP, Errors & Admissions, and when the Nashville production of Peter Overton steps back to highlight her fine voice and piano playing, beautiful things occur. Unfortunately, both are frequently buried in the mix, leaving music that sports a slick sheen that belies the ache of lost love that permeates the songwriting.
"What Took You So Long" opens with a guitar riff reminiscent of Vertical Horizon's "Everything You Want" before settling into a chorus that could be found in any contemporary country trifle. Written by Overton and Franklin, it veers between biting sarcasm ("You never fail to do me wrong/But I just want to know/What took you so long?") and dropping cheesy lines like "I never knew the gate to hell could look so heavenly" or "You're my first drug of choice."

Jenn Franklin may have begun
her professional performing
career at the age of twelve in
rock bands playing the biker
bars of Hays, Kansas, but she
now channels her creativity into
songwriting and performance
on the piano. |
"Impasse 900" is also a Franklin/Overton collaboration, but this one features an appealing syncopated guitar line and takes on the ethereal nature of a Chantal Kreviazuk tune. The final four songs are written by Franklin alone, and the piano begins to emerge to greater prominence.
"Innocence to Lose" invites the listener into a silent back and forth between lovers ("You keep giving in to your nature/I keep trying to kill my conscience") while "Fade" is stripped down to just piano and vocals with a subtle drum beat to move things along, and Jenn's delivery evoking Evanescence's Amy Lee.
"Mercy" has a nice Fender Rhodes piano intro on this meditation on human nature, and the bass line reminded me at times of "Black Velvet" by Alannah Myles. "Cozumel" wraps up the disc with Jenn tickling the keys front and center, and this is more of what I would like to hear from her, even if it's not lyrically the strongest track.
Errors & Admissions hints at the superb talent that Franklin obviously possesses, while demonstrating how overproduction can submerse it in an ocean of unnecessary sound. Thus, I tended to enjoy the ballads more than the guitar-accented pop. It's stylistically diverse enough to warrant repeat spins, and teases the listener with the promise of greater things to come.
Jenn Franklin, "Errors & Admissions" EP
Track Listing |
1. What Took You So Long
2. Impasse 900
3. Innocence to Lose |
4. Fade
5. Mercy
6. Cozumel |
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CD Giveaway - Paper Bird, "Rooms"
Ends May 28, 2013
Drifting ever so slightly away from traditional folk music, this Colorado band delivers harmony and energy aplenty. |
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