JuBillee - You And I (Album Review)
Over the last few years, as the UK public has slowly reembraced country music with an ardour not seen in decades, the previously underground UK country scene has stepped into the light with marked success for the likes of Ward Thomas and The Shires. The latest UK hopefuls to come to the attention of RGM are JuBillee featuring Justine Wilson and Billy Warren whose debut album You And I is available now via new label Vacancy Records who put out the excellent Ashley Campbell album.
Justine and Billy are unashamedly at the poppier end of the country spectrum. This take on the genre I’m not always comfortable with preferring to have a little more grit and dirt under the fingernails. If I hear another click track, complete with studio tweaked/autotuned vocal masquerading as country music it’ll be too soon. Thankfully Justine and Billy’s take on country music has enough of the old school to make their debut album a fun listen.
Opener ‘A Party Ain’t A Party’ doesn’t initially bode well, despite its atmospheric opening it dissolves into a mess of “Ay Oh” vocal hooks and studio trickery (which is a shame as there are some nicely placed guitar licks underpinning things). The line dancing stomp of ‘Little Darlin’’ is also toe-curling in its awfulness to these ears, but I fully appreciate I’m hardly the target audience and fans will doubtless be chasing me down with blazing torches and pitchforks. In my defence, I'd like to throw myself on the mercy of the court and point out that elsewhere the album has some lovely stuff. ‘My Father Told Me’ is great and Justine and Billy’s voices blend beautifully on the big ballad ‘I Wonder Who Is Loving You Tonight'. This feeling of musical harmony is further reinforced by the bouncy positivity of the title track which is the only track written by the duo on the album, so Justine and Billy should get scribbling new material as the initial impression is a positive one.
A terrific vocal from Justine, and spot-on harmonies, enliven ‘Bed Of Lies’ while hit single ‘Don’t Make Me Look Into Your Eyes’ was recently seen rubbing shoulders with Dolly Parton at the top of the iTunes Country Chart. Billy convincingly takes the lead on a note for note cover of Marc Roberts ‘Something Inside’ which is cool as I’ve always liked the song. Speaking of outside songwriters the rather lovely, string-laden ‘Gasoline’ is a Boo Hewerdine / Mike Nocito (Johnny Hates Jazz) composition which is never a bad thing.
As I said earlier, I’m not the target demographic for JuBillee, but I found ‘You And I’ enjoyable fair. I’m sure with their undoubted crossover appeal we’ll be hearing plenty more from Justine and Billy.
Life is full of surprises. At a time when the majority of people would be content to retire, potter about in the garden, and leave new music to the young folks, erstwhile Heartbreakers drummer Stan Lynch is back with a new band and an impressive new record. The other surprise is that the Italian Frontiers label, usually the home of all things AOR and melodic hard rock, continues a welcome expansion into other musical realms. The Speaker Wars and Frontiers seem like unlikely bedfellows, but the label is to be commended for landing this particular release. More please.