Juliet Turner - Season of the Hurricane Review
by Charlotte Hannon
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Juliet Turner's new release is, as the first track suggests, "The Greatest Show on Earth". With so many good to great artists and songwriters coming out of Ireland prior to Juliet my expectations were as such that it would have been very easy to disappoint me. Her album, Season of the Hurricane, not only rose to the expectation but surmounted it. While at times I couldn't help but draw the inevitable comparisons to some other notable Irish vocalists, Mary Black and Maire Brennan to name a couple, there's more than just Irish here. The sultry jazzy-pop vocal delivery of the first few tracks brought a cocktail to mind, a mix of sultry Shirley Bassey, a dash of Dido, simmered into a mature Nora Jones, more than a hint of a Coors style radio friendly chorus thrown in, the end result: Just Juliet.
There's a lot to enjoy here lyrically as well. 'Season of The Hurricane' the title track is so well crafted it is both a melodic and a metaphoric feast. "The Signal and the Noise", probably the least commercial sounding, deserves a round of applause for intelligent concept fashioned into a song. Lines like "Here comes our first laugh together, a strange perfume", completely captures the essence of 'One Night', and there's a depth, "I could be a foothold in the rock-face of your fear", (Business As Usual), to her writing that completely engaged my easily bored mind. I was pre-disposed to dislike "Elvis is in
the Building", simply because I saw the title and can't help supposing any use of "Elvis" in a song is going to mean it's beyond trite, but I have to admit this was a courageous effort that ultimately surprised and finally won me over.
Managing to span the broad variety contained in the singer/songwriter pop genre with the thirteen tracks on this album without twisting herself out of shape it's safe to conclude Juliet Turner deserves to not only appeal to a broad audience but also keep her bunk with Ireland's greats.
CD Info and Links
Juliet Turner - Season of the Hurricane Label:Valley Entertainment Rating:
Track Listing: 1. The Greatest Show On Earth
2. One Night
3. Business As Usual
4. The Signal And The Noise
5. Season Of The Hurricane
6. Elvis Is In The Building
7. 1987
8. Vampire
9. Everything Beautiful Is Burning
10. See Another Side
11. No Good In This Goodbye
12. Sugartown
13. Take The Money And Run - (bonus track)
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