'Stories Up High' by Laney Jones
While there isn’t rhythm or elegance in the term “countrypolitan”—a portmanteau of “country” and “cosmopolitan,” meant to signify a rural slicker or a city hick—it does help describe Stories Up High, the third album from singer-songwriter Laney Jones.
Residing and recording in Nashville, Jones and co-producer Andrija Tokic (who’s also worked with Hurray for the Riff Raff and Alabama Shakes) utilize plenty of local instrumentalists to handle pedal steel, organ, banjo, and glockenspiel, and the overall sound meshes effective professionalism and organic feeling.
Jones’ voice is undeniably organic: it evokes the twang of Linda Ronstadt’s Stone Poneys period, echoes the intense rasp just behind Angel Olsen’s phrasing, and captures, with the naturalness of Josh Rouse, the childlike yearning and hope wrapped inside her own maturing melodicism.
Although the music does have fancies and filigrees (see above re: glockenspiel), Tokic and Jones make sure that nothing more than a strummed acoustic guitar can carry each song’s weight. The additional elements—a very lyrical piano passage in the midst of “Can’t Stop the Rain,” a dourly flattened bassline amid the vibrations of "Long Way"—add to the drama.
The drama varies: “Remember” bursts out of wee-hours softness to a loudly breaking dawn; “Daniel” stays at a quieter stroll while Jones extends her voice up and out like fingers reaching for another’s hand; and “Not Alone” chugs and chants as crudely and blissfully as a George Satellites number, only prettier.
Jones nears the end with “Rocket to Mars,” a cosmically hazy country-rock carnival ride, and closes with “If Life Is,” which, despite being shot through with retro-futuristic whistles and a reverberating hint of “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds,” is a tender, folky urge to be with those you trust and love. Stories Up High balances complexity and simplicity, punk and Podunk, country and cosmopolitan.
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