Record Reviews
Really quite splendid.
This is the first EP of Bridie Jackson, where she shows an emotionally conscious voice, singing with spatial breathing. She emphasises with power in a soft voice and uses interesting pickings with muscle strong accents like in flamenco, shows good guitar arrangements, and a couple of fine backing vocal arrangements. Promising
“Four songs of rare beauty. Bridie Jackson has a voice that exists to hang in a rarifed atmosphere: and theres a real sharpness to be found amongst these tracks that I suppose could be described as anti-folk (But pro- beauty)”
“Bridieβs voice is far more mature than her years betray [and] you can tell from the word go that Bridieβs music completely envelops her as she plays and she feels it rather than hears it. The trick is that the vast majority of the time she manages to extend an invite to the listening public as well β¦ I felt quite bereft when the music stopped.”
Live Reviews
“Bridie clearly adores performing, but this gig, while featuring her familiar acoustic guitar, also demonstrated her emerging talent as a genuinely innovative musician, often accompanying her strumming with the use of bassoon, violin and vocal harmonies. It may sound sycophantic, but I doubt weβll have to wait very long to see her define the north east vocal folk scene.”
“An untameable and enthralling talent”
“It was a real pleasure and delight to see Bridie Jackson perform on the launch of her EP. I have seen her perform live several times before but she has never sung or looked more beautiful. She was fresher than any daisy and was simply dazzling in an electric blue vintage dress.
Hers is an epic voice that despite its strength and power has a whisper like quality that draws you in with its gentle intimacy and bewitching melancholy. Bridie writes songs that have a gritty raw emotional truth that are delivered in the same fashion. Each song was introduced with engaging banter and genuine warmth.
She is a powerful, down to earth performer, with an otherworldy voice. This girl could, and probably will, fill stadiums full of people in the future and is most definately set for greater things.”
“Mixing expressive vocals, poignant lyrics and a natural playing style, local chanteuse Bridie Jackson offers a moving and, at times, decidedly dark strain of acoustic blues-tinged folk, drawing inspiration from her travels across Europe as a child- in particular the discovery of Fado, a mournful style of that combines African slave rhythms with the music of Portuguese sailors.”
“Barefoot and wild, Bridie Jackson veers between beautifully sparse and and riotous, raucous new folk”
“This evenings opener bridie Jackson has something quite fascinating about her- an on-stage aura and charm that gives her performance an element of mystique. Her songs are intricate, interweaved acoustic doodles backed up by a hugely expressive voice that brings to mind late 60’s Joni Mitchell.A shoody sound set up added an unwelcome starkness to her guitar but this was a minor imperfection that did’nt blight a bewitching performance.”
“The crowd is hushed, listening reverentially as Bridie Jackson commences accapella then gradually adds her own minimal guitar accompaniment to her soaring, powerful voice- especially impressive on her second song, ‘Prolong,’ and sounding like a latter-day Joni Mitchell on the bluesy “This Morning”.
“Enthusiastic, youthful and at times, captivating.”
“Inventive guitar playing that instantly intrigues but its THAT voice which is her most impressive instrument.
A sound that wavers between traditional acoustics and the anti-folk sound of New York, peeking at “Prolong”, a moving, multi-layered track, combining Celtic Strings with Folk/Punk vocals, makes for intense, powerful listening.”
“A really spirited, Celtic sounding voice. Her songs have the natural touch like she wrote them by just singing around the house and one day happened to have a guitar in her hand. The chords accompany the real work, which is simply the musing voice.
The other thing I liked was that you begin by listening to the music but then a very interesting thing happens. You find your thoughts drifting-but not wastefully; your subconscious is in full flow and you start getting really creative thoughts and ideas yourself, all cradled by Bridie’s voice in the background.”
“Bridie Jackson’s beautiful and haunting music will delight and challenge in equal measure”
