Jessica Lea Mayfield already impressed me with 2008’s “With Blasphemy So Heartfelt”. While Black Keys’ Dan Auerbach’s production definitely had something to do with that, it was Mayfield’s frail yet dark vocals that did me in completely. Since changing a winning team is good for nothing except losing, “Tell Me” sees this Kent, Ohio native teaming up once again with Auerbach for the difficult sophomoric album.
Best compared to Cat Powers’ Chan Marshall, Mayfield weaves her voice through the eleven songs on “Tell Me” and proves once again that she knows how to write some mean lyrics. With the help of Auerbach, she expands on her output this time around by adding some poppier sounds (“Nervous Lonely Night”) and some loud rocking guitars (“Somewhere In Your Heart”) to her particular mix of rootsrock and American Gothic. The result is a varied album that comes with plenty of surprises and while the reggae vibe of “Grown Man” doesn’t manage to convince me entirely, a song like “Blue Skies Again” and the hauntingly beautiful “Trouble” more than make up for it.
Score: 8 out of 10
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