Categories: REVIEWS

Jess Lees – Broken Souls

Cheshire-based singer-songwriter Jess Lees recently released “Broken Souls,” an exceptional composition that will appeal to anyone looking for cleverly assembled and flawlessly performed music. It’s her debut single, fully stacked with impressive vocal, sonic, and rhythmic maneuvers, suitable for even the pickiest listeners. Her songwriting, composing, arranging, and producing abilities are on full display here, as she delivers one of the best modern alternative rock songs you’ll hear this year. Perhaps alternative rock is her primary weapon of choice, but you’ll also notice how other different but complementary music genres found their way into this sonic equation. Jess Less includes many sonic ingredients borrowed from indie, skater rock, pop-punk, and emo, but still, this track resonates with so many fresh, unique, and innovative instrumentations. The artist uses all these additional elements as more than necessary enhancements, accentuations, decorations, and other details to uplift her debut song to new heights while simultaneously remaining loyal to the primary sonic direction. Therefore, these experimentations with many different but complementary music styles resulted in a catchy, memorable, engaging composition that will unquestionably appeal to all alternative rock fans and beyond.

As soon as you press play, you’ll notice how Jess Less thought about everything while writing and composing this ear-appealing song. “Broken Souls” arrives with a perfect structure garnered with many intricate segments, brilliant ideas, and marvelous orchestrations. She even thought about even the tiniest details and nuances, proving that she’s a profoundly creative singer-songwriter. With the initial notes and beats, “Broken Souls” grabs you by the collar and refuses to let you go even after the song ends. You’ll immediately hear how her marvelous vocal performance commands attention and guides the listening apparatus through luxurious soundscapes. Her impressive vocal range seamlessly balances low, mid, and high notes, emphasizing all the segments and instrumentations from scratch to finish. In the meantime, the interplay between rhythm and lead guitar shapes a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon. You’ll notice how cleverly assembled chord progressions and riffs resonate on one side while the hypnotic themes, melodies, harmonies, and other sonic maneuvers shine on the other. The combination of acoustic and electric guitars spices things up and elevates an already intricate ambiance to an entirely new level. Also, it’s nearly mindblowing how vocals and guitar pair harmoniously throughout the entire track.

Photo by Edie Lees

Of course, this song wouldn’t sound this good with the rock-solid rhythm section. There are layers of equally complex, audible, warm-sounding basslines lurking beneath the guitars, providing more than necessary heaviness, clarity, and depth while binding all those orchestrations with rhythmic patterns. The excellent drumming performance based upon moderate, tastefully arranged, flawlessly performed, well-accentuated beats, breaks, fills, and other percussive acrobatics keeps the remainder of the orchestrations in line while dictating the groove and pace. If the guitars play a significant role in shaping such a perfect backdrop for all the vocals to shine upon, then the rhythm section propels everything to new heights with more groove and dynamics. As you can see, Jess Lees thought about everything while writing, composing, and producing her debut. She left no stone unturned while working on this song, proving right from the start that she’s a clever songwriter and musician who knows how to assemble emotionally charged alternative rock songs, fully stacked with brilliant ideas and impressive musicianship.

This might be her debut single, but it shines with skills, talents, knowledge, and experience. “Broken Souls” carries only the finest qualities of modern alternative rock music and it’s probably one of the best songs you’ll hear this year. With this track, Jess Lees stands out from the remainder of the scene, proving that alternative and indie rock music still has so much to offer. You should put “Broken Souls” on your radar as soon as possible because it will instantly become your go-to track whenever you need some tastefully arranged and wisely performed music.

Djordje Miladinović

Hi, my name is Djordje and music is my passion. You'll probably find me at the gigs, in a local record store, distro or in front of my PC searching for some quality music to listen to. Do not hesitate to contact me. By becoming a Patron, you're keeping Thoughts Words Action alive. https://www.patreon.com/thoughtswordsaction

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