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NOV. 11, 2008	VOLUME 7, NO. 3
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Music Review
Album: Down To Earth
Artist: Jem
Release Date: 9/16/08

By Libby Hannon '12
CONTRIBUTING WRITER

What this album is like: Reading your favorite novel while sitting in a cafe sipping a delicious latte.

Pro-tip: If you enjoy Frou Frou/Imogen Heap, you'll probably fall in love with Jem too. She's actually written songs for several popular TV shows such as Grey's Anatomy and Gossip Girl, although her songs sometimes only appeared on the unofficial soundtracks for the series.

She also wrote a song that was featured in the fantasy movie Eragon, released back in 2006.

Rating: 3.5/5 Muffins

I won't lie to you; I have been eagerly awaiting Down to Earth ever since I first learned Jem was releasing a new album.

I find musicians that scream instead of sing terribly annoying; Jem's delivery is the exact opposite of this. Her voice has a breathy, ethereal quality, which is a relaxing break compared to other singers who shriek as if they're attempting to break the sensitive studio recording equipment with their vocal antics. If listening other artists is like being in a giant outdoor concert with the singers howling into the microphones, then Jem's music is more like being in a mood club. Her tone is far more intimate and compelling.

In all honesty, this album is a bit mellower than her debut CD, which has a distinctly more rock-influenced quality, which is what originally caused me to fall in love with the music of this Welsh singer/songstress. But no matter what the style of her songs are, each track distinctly reminds me of a lullaby, probably because of the gentle cadence of her voice, which is most obvious in her song "You Will Make It".

You may have had a taste of Jem if you've seen the Sex and the City movie, as one of the singles off of her new album, "It's Amazing," appears in the film. If you want a comparison to other artists, think Imogen Heap or Dido, and chuck in some electrojazz-trip-hop, you wind up with the formula for Down to Earth.