Jewel had a slow-burn of a start in the music industry when it came to the commercial success of her 1995 debut album ‘Pieces Of You’. A raw mostly-acoustic album that was largely recorded live, the album took its time to reach an audience before going on to sell more than 12 million copies in the US alone. Over the past 27 years, Jewel has experimented with her music, keeping honest song writing at the heart of everything she does but pushing boundaries in terms of sonics and genre. Her last studio album, 2015’s ‘Picking Up The Pieces’, was a sequel of sorts to her debut and for the long-awaited new album “Freewheelin’ Woman”, her thirteenth Jewel is once again experimenting and this time drawing inspiration from the R&B and Blues records she grew up on.
2020 single ‘Grateful’ suggested that fans could expect new sounds on “Freewheelin’ Woman” and it’s only the tip of the iceberg. Blending a bluesy R&B beat with Jewel’s poignant lyrics about the importance of being grateful for what you have, the song has proven to be a teaser of the optimism and hope that runs throughout the full record. It’s important to note the album arrives post Jewel’s victory on ‘The Masked Singer’ in the US where she won the show thanks to her jaw-dropping ability to shift genre and deliver stellar live vocals.
Alongside ‘Grateful’, the new album has teased out a couple more tracks ahead of release including the “Long Way ‘Round”, a soulful meditation on appreciating and understanding the ebb and flow of life, and ‘Dancing Slow’ featuring Train finds Jewel trying to recapture a love that’s escaped her. Those three songs are a good indication as to what you can expect from the rest of the album, which is sonically her most musically adventurous since 2003’s vastly underrated ‘0304’, an uptempo pop album that saw Jewel trying to spread happiness in the wake of the 9/11 and the world’s general dark mood at the time.
On “Freewheelin’ Woman”, Jewel sounds more vocally free than we’ve ever heard before. On ‘Alibis’, she flutters in and out of her jazzy vibrato to great effect before the chorus explodes into the poppiest moment on the record. ‘Half Life’ is a soulful throwback that lyrically explores society’s tendency to sleep walk through a portion of life, simply going through the motions rather than exploring all the opportunities that are available. Perhaps the album’s most experimental moment comes on the jaunty jazz of ‘Living With Your Memory’, which influences a New Orleans sensibility as Jewel sing scats over horns allowing her voice to soar.
For those that prefer Jewel at her most stripped-back, there are plenty of moments to enjoy too. ‘Almost’ brings to mind ‘Pieces Of You’ track ‘Near You Always’ although it tells a very different story of a love that almost won but ultimately faded away and failed. Jewel’s vocal is heartbreakingly raw and you can’t help but be moved by every word she sings. ‘When You Loved Me’ is a stirring emotive track where Jewel looks back on a love that has had its time while she observes another woman being the recipient of the love she once received.
Elsewhere on the record Darius Rucker adds his vocals to ‘No More Tears’, a song Jewel originally released in conjunction with the documentary ‘Lost in America’. It’s a wise decision to include it here and Rucker’s voice adds, rather than detracts, to a song that was already powerful. ‘Love Wins’ marries beats and a Wurlitzer for a joyful uptempo moment that celebrates what love can do while ‘Dance Sing Laugh Love’ encourages the listener to experience and enjoy the joy that’s all around us. The album comes to a close with ‘Nothing But Love’, a gentler moment that gives a fitting conclusion to an album that’s both joyful and emotive.
“Freewheelin’ Woman” is an album that features many different flavours and coming as the world is recovering from the pandemic, it’s an injection of hope and optimism that we all sorely need. As she did with ‘0304’, Jewel is here to rally people and remind us that even in the darkness there’s joy to be found if you choose to look for, and embrace, it. With her most powerful vocals yet, “Freewheelin’ Woman” could very well go on to be considered a career highlight for Jewel and there’s a renewed energy and passion that runs through the record that’s incredibly infectious.
Track list: 1. Long Way ‘Round 2. Dancing Slow (feat. Train) 3. Alibis 4. Grateful 5. Half Life 6. Almost 7. Dance Sing Laugh Love 8. Living With Your Memory 9. No More Tears (feat. Darius Rucker) 10. When You Loved Me 11. Love Wins 12. Nothing But Love 13. Alaska (Bonus Track) 14. Grateful (Acoustic Bonus Track) Record label: Words Matter Media Release date: 15th April 2022 Buy “Freewheelin’ Woman” now
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