Sea Of Tears

On her third album Eilen Jewell is more Dusty Springfield than Gillian Welch. Sea of Tears finds Jewell acknowledging her electric influences and the roots of rock and roll on the album's twelve tracks. On the record she pays homage to British invasion of the sixties, bands like The Kinks and The Animals; her forlorn, yet confident, delivery matches slow rock and resonant guitar sounds throughout the record. Although nine of the tracks are Jewell originals, the entire album could easily have been recorded over forty years earlier. Sea of Tears has a smooth sliding pace that is punctuated by a chill of sharp guitar and the tone can be summarized in the words of "Shakin' All Over." In the track, a cover of Johnny Kidd & The Pirates' recording, Jewell expertly explains the album's sound in the lyrics, "Quivers down the back bone...shakin' all over." The slow syncopation on the record hits the listener like ice water on a hot sunny day, unexpected but appreciated.