Jane Marie and Jessica Mia explore love and life through jazz on their new EP Dance With Me
Following on from their acclaimed collaborative album Songs of 2020, Jane Marie and vocalist Jessica Mia have come together yet again to craft the immersive new EP Dance With Me, a collection of tracks that continue to showcase the powerful and awe-inspiring nature of their sound and the rousing chemistry they possess.
The EP immediately sets off on energetic and fun footing with the irresistibly fun ‘Dance With Me’, a track that melds jazzy instrumentation with an upbeat poppy catchiness to make for a riotously good time. There is a real sense of life that runs through everything from the vocals, to the piano, to the show-stealing trumpets and saxophone.
‘You Light Me Up’ follows and serves as a more measured love song, slowing things down a bit musically but still holding onto the euphoria of the previous release. Anybody who has felt in love or infatuated with somebody will find a lot to resonate with here, and Jessica’s vocals do a great job of conveying the sheer joy of the track throughout.
Things slow down even more on ‘It’s True (Nostalgia)’, another track that is packed full of nuance and character while evoking vivid imagery through its lyrics, with the themes surrounding the idea of looking back at fond memories with a glowing sense of glee, backed by even more inspired instrumentation that really captures the nostalgic spirit.
Love and happiness are two feelings that the project explores through jazz more than anything else, and predictably, ‘Love You’ is another track that hones in on this. The track feels more like a traditional, jazz-infused ballad than anything else on the album, and the gorgeous, swaying way that it progresses makes for a captivating listen that is packed full of charm throughout.
The EP throughout has this natural kind of smoothness that really shines on some of the more slowed down tracks, and ‘Unravelled’ is a track that does a really stellar job of contrasting this with an increasingly powerful and intense vocal performance that offers a neat counterpart to it. This marriage of the harsh and the soft feels compelling and engrossing throughout, allowing everybody involved to showcase their mastery of their craft.
The album comes to quite a sobering end with its closing track ‘It’s Over’, a track that cuts the fun of a lot of the previous releases short in masterfully composed and memorable fashion. While the album felt like it was possibly building up to it, it does feel like a gut-punch coming at the end of a collection of tracks that packed so much love and fun into its duration, but it puts a really nice bow on the EP and ties up the narrative in a way that feels rewarding and resonating.
Dance With Me is a collection of tracks that shine either in their own right or as a collective, with the with the over-arching narrative being one that many listeners can relate to and find solace in, while the individual tracks highlight different points in relationships or love and its various stages. It makes for a listen that showcases the different moods and feelings that jazz can portray, and everybody involved does a stellar job of bringing it to life.
