Jodi Sheeler either wants to be the next Natalie Merchant or the
next Joni Mitchell. I haven’t decided yet which path she’s really
trying to follow – nor has she, for that matter.
Sheeler’s self-titled eight-song indie release features some
interesting songs which demonstrate this New Yorker has promise,
though sometimes the stream-of-consciousness lyrics get in the way
of what she’s trying to accomplish.
Sheeler’s vocals seem to be still developing, though there’s
enough power in them already to suggest quite a bit of hopeful
promise. The breathless pain she emotes on “How Could You Let Me
Go” indicates the wounds are still very much fresh, though the
healing process has yet to really take hold. Sheeler convincingly
plays the role of a jilted lover in this song, the role assured by
her emotion-filled vocals. The fact that only Sheeler’s acoustic
guitar backs her up also works to the song’s advantage.
Other tracks on
Jodi Sheeler have the same kind of emotional punch. “Best
Friend Kristen” is a light-hearted look back at childhood innocence
and the bond between two friends who share common experiences. “No
Regrets” has the most emotional punch to my ears, daring the
listener to take a look back at their own lives and examine the
things they don’t want to. When Sheeler sings “Here’s to no
regrets,” she’s challenging the listener to discover what they wish
they’d done differently with their lives – though whether this was
a conscious decision on Sheeler’s part, I don’t know.
Not everything on
Jodi Sheeler works as well, though, and these minor stumbles
picture an artist who is still honing her talents. Tracks like
“Follow A Fool,” “Blackeyed Susan” and “Time And Again” have their
moments, but do not carry the same power that the winning tracks
do. Likewise, “Farther” has hints of promise, but here is where the
stream-of-consciousness style of Sheeler’s vocals fail to deliver
the payload. What she could have done different, I don’t know.
Still,
Jodi Sheeler is a disc which makes me curious to see what
this young woman has ahead of her. She still has some development
to undergo musically, but this release could just be the start of
something potentially promising for her.
