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Jem - Down To Earth
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| Billboard |
| On her sophomore ATO effort, Welsh singer Jem doesn't veer far off the course from 2004's "Finally Woken." The album plays it fairly safe, dabbling primarily in subtle electro supplemented by trip-hop beats. The "Sex and the City" movie-featured "It's Amazing" and the moody, crackling "Keep On Walking," backed by a gospel chorus at the end, are the best of this variety. Elsewhere, a funky banjo drives "Crazy," and the Japanese-sung "Aciiid" is made for the dancefloor. The Latin-spiced "I Want You To . . ." is lively but grows repetitive, and the 9/11-influenced ballad "You Will Make It" doesn't succeed in stirring emotions quite like it should. Jem's Dido-like vocals are consistently a soothing treat, but on the whole there's a sultriness and spark missing from the material. —Jill Menze...full text |
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| Thephoenix |
| Even if you didn’t buy Finally Woken, this Welsh singer’s 2004 debut, you’ve probably heard selections from it, thanks to Jem’s popularity among Hollywood music supervisors, who’ve stuck her songs into a bevy of high-profile movies and TV shows including Sex and the City, The OC, and Grey’s Anatomy. Given the current dependability of that revenue stream (as opposed to that of record sales), it’s no surprise that nearly every track on Jem’s new sophomore set sounds as if it had been designed to reserve her seat aboard the gravy train. Working with writer-producers like Lester Mendez (a frequent collaborator with Shakira and Santana) and Greg Kurstin of the Bird and the Bee, she layers airy, tightly harmonized vocal hooks over sleek synths, strummy guitars, and booming hip-hop beats, and the songs broadcast their emotional content — anxiety, melancholy, resilience — with a straightforwardness you rarely hear outside children’s music. That simplicity doesn’t detract from the ample melodic and textural pleasures, but it does give Down to Earth a limited shelf life — that is, provided you’re listening with the television off....full text |
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| Pastemagazine |
| Carving out a niche in pop electronica is like raising a banner to say, “License these songs!” Thanks to TV and film, artists like Imogen Heap, Kate Havnevik and Jem are heard constantly, but recognized far less. So, for music supervisors, Jem’s latest album Down To Earth is every bit as soundtrack-friendly as her 2004 debut Finally Woken. But for the rest of us, it’s every bit as uneven as that bracing debut. For each infectious groove—like the combustible banjo funk of “Crazy” or the Latin-flavored “I Want You To...”—there’s a tired trip-hop beat (“Keep On Walking”) or a treacly MOR ballad (“Got It Good”). Lyrical clunkers like “becoming a bitch is not what I got into music for” (“I Always Knew”) and “I’ve got brains and a hot body too” (“Crazy”) induce winces, though the Welsh singer’s cool alto almost sells it. But when Jem’s good—as with throwback dance track “Aciiid!” and the beautiful piano and strings of “You Will Make It”—she’s very good. Your willingness to forgive the misfires may indeed depend on the (inevitable) accompanying onscreen visual....full text |
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