The artist alias of composer and singer-songwriter Jasenia Williams, “Softly Spoken” brings a heartfelt, soulful sound that does not miss the mark of the listener’s heart — and on their latest project, “Seasons of Love”, they set out to do just that — keep reading for my thoughts!
The 9-track album is filled with warm messages of love, introspection and beautiful storytelling all very nicely woven together — starting with the first track, “Hey”, the acoustic guitars are warm and intimate, the fuzzy settling in just perfectly from the opening notes, and as the track progresses, the breathy, heady quality of the vocals really hits close to home, with heartwarming delivery and messages, with messages of love and togetherness in the lines, “I wanna hold your hand”, repeating over and over in the outro, leaving you craving that sight of your loved one.
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“My Person” is a beautiful rendition that follows as the second track, with the slaps on the acoustic guitar serving as the gentle percussion that drives this track along, as the lyrics tell stories of how two people meet, stories get written, and memories get made; and all throughout the song, Williams’ soulful singing and writing are elevated by the production courtesy of Burn County; and as the song renders your head a-sway in the moonlight, all you’ve left to do is to throw your head back and let out a happy sigh — quite the class act.
“Seasons of Love” progresses as love stories do — with the songs on the album, one after another, tackling the various things a relationship, as a collective, is destined to go through — and as the seasons do go from springs to sultry summers to windy winters, the themes of the songs evolve ever so gently, with “Happysad” being the pivot point in the album; slowing things down a little, Williams starts to delve into darker, more intense themes here — while the melodic theming in the background is just about perfect for the job. The emotive impact is where this album is a runaway success right from the start — and this song only serves to further cement that.
As we move through the tracks “Scar”, “Pieces”, and “Crazy”, we’re brought to sobering tales in the lyrics, all while the atmosphere evolves to suit the mood; and as we’re left a wistful goodbye with “Circles”, we’re hankering for the repeat, to go through this tumultuous storm of emotions from start to end, to fall in love all over again.
The mixing and mastering on “Seasons of Love” is par excellence, with great reverbs and control on both the acoustic guitars and on the vocals, creating a very close, intimate sound — that elevates the storytelling nature of this album even further. With tasteful harmonies and layers put in exactly the right places, this album has a very well rounded, polished sound that is sure to leave you with a good bit more emotion than what you started with. Take a listen to “Seasons of Love” here!
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