With a recording career of nearly 20 years, Jane Siberry can well be considered to be a forerunner of the current female singer/songwriter wave. Her most recent release, Teenager, finds her zooming far into her own past, recording songs that she wrote as a teenager.
Considering the age of the songs, it is not surprising that this album does not seem to fit into our time. Instead of reflecting our fast, complex and hectic world, the recording is completely acoustic, and there is hardly a single loud note to be heard. While this may sound dull at a first superficial glance, the album reveals its qualities after repeated listening. Suddenly, it looks like an oasis in a deserted world; the clean voice of Jane Siberry is filled with tenderness, and the songs that first seemed almost too simple reveal their sheer beauty, both in the poetic lyrics and the melodies.
Even though the proof was not needed, Teenager confirms Jane Siberry's outstanding talent - somebody writing such wonderful songs as a teenager is really gifted from above.
This is the first release on Siberry's own record label, Sheeba Records; their web site can be found at http://www.sheeba.ca/ Also excellent are the unofficial pages at http://www.smoe.org/nbh/
