While New York-based singer-songwriter Jenn Summers has a past that contains a lot of uncertainty, the songs that she writes have a more upbeat approach to them in a way that may just help you forget about your troubles. Jenn Summers took some of these songs and created a new album entitled When Life Gives You Lemons. And just recently, Summers celebrated the release of the 2012 album.
When Life Gives You Lemons from Jenn Summers is a release that features a relaxed a soulful approach with a solid soul/acoustic pop combination in its songs. For fans of music with a more relaxed approach, the new album from Jenn Summers gives you that relaxed feel while also promoting the writing style of this singer-songwriter.
Jenn Summers’ new release of When Life Gives You Lemons begins with the track “Blue Velveteen”. The bass, acoustic guitars and simple drumbeat combine to create a track with a relaxed feel to its music that follows the lyrics about taking it easy. As a song with an easy beat, the “Blue Velveteen” track gives the listener one good reason to check out the rest of the album.
The second track, “Get Better,” adds a stronger beat to the album while the song sticks with the relaxed feel that began on track one. “Get Better” also features a more hook-driven sound and moves the release in a more commercial direction.
When Life Gives You Lemons continues with the title track. “When Life Gives You Lemons, Make L.O.V.E.” The simple ukulele and handclaps approach to the song allows for the words being sung by Summers to stand out. Although the track is very sparse in its nature, the song also has some of the best and upbeat lyrics of the ten tracks on this album. The refrain of the song will also draw the listener in to sing along.
On the track “This Side of Free” takes Summers’ music and creates a track that feels the most like something you’d find on today’s radio dial. The music of the track contains guitar, bass, drums and organ. This combination of musical elements helps to bring Jenn Summers’ music to life more than any song thus far on the release. This track also allows for Summers’ voice to shine brighter than on any earlier track.
“Don’t Mind Me” is another track that features a full-band sound. This song takes on a more pessimistic view on life as the lyrics of the song tell of someone trying to accept the end of the relationship. Along with Jenn singing the lead vocals to the song, she also does a nice job adding background vocals that add a nice harmony to the track.
Just as Summers sings of sadness because of love loss in “Don’t Mind Me,” she takes a different view of things on the more upbeat song “The Monday Song”. The narrator in this song doesn’t want to see Monday come as she has too much fun on the weekends spending time with her love interest.
Like the earlier song “This Side of Free,” the track “Wake Me Up” also has a very radio friendly sound. The commercial feel to the music and the lyrics about desire make a song that has a sound that might remind people of the band The Bangles, especially the music on their song “Manic Monday”.
“On My Own” is probably the track on the When Life Gives You Lemons album from Jenn Summers that truly shows off the soulful nature of Summers’ voice the most. On this track, Summers proves she can survive anything….even after a relationship comes to an end. As Summers sings the lyrics to the song, the listener hears the conviction in her words that makes you believe what she says.
The ten tracks that make up the When Life Gives You Lemons album from Jenn Summers give you many different styles of writing from Summers on one release. Whether a simple sound like the sparse approach on the title track of “When Life Gives You Lemons, Make L.O.V.E.” or the fuller, more commercial sound of “This Side of Free,” you get to experience a wide variety of writing styles on one release from singer-songwriter who knows how to create her music in a way that keeps it sounding fresh from track-to-track. When Life Gives You Lemons from Jenn Summers is varied enough that almost anyone will find something to enjoy within the ten tracks that make up the 2012 release.
Click the link that follows to watch the video for “When Life Gives You Lemons, Make L.O.V.E.”
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