Janina Jade feat. Jennifer Batten - Heart Of Rock N Roll (2021)

Janina Jade is a Swedish singer-songwriter, and her second release, “Heart Of Rock ‘N’ Roll”, is the follow up to her 2019 release “No Sweet Illusions”. She has been heavily influenced by ROLLING STONES, particularly their seventies era output, and that influence shows through in a somewhat minimalist approach on this release. Instantly, her vocal style brought both Johnette Napolitano of CONCRETE BLONDE and, to some extent, Patti Smith to my mind; maybe a little Exene Cervenka thrown in for good measure. Musically, she offers an almost Punk feel at times, though the output is certainly bolstered by the inclusion of the phenomenal talents of Jennifer Batten on lead guitar.

This album opens with the title cut, “Heart Of Rock ‘N’ Roll”. The song begins with a Ska-like progression, and those rhythms continue throughout, with Batten layering in some tasty fills and a sweet solo midway through. Jade’s vocal approach takes some getting used to, and she will not win any awards for her singing ability. The hook in this song is hidden in the writing.

“The Darkness Of My Soul” follows, with a great rhythmic guitar riff to open. Again, musically, there are no complaints, with Tobhias Ljung and Batten functioning well behind Jade’s rhythm. This song has a better overall feeling to it, even considering the vocal work still getting in my way. A fantastic guitar solo brought this one home for me.

“Before My Time Runs Out” continues the pattern. The songwriting on this song is superb, lyrically speaking. The musicianship is top notch, but some of the guitar work felt a bit out of place in this setting. “Holding On” slows things down a bit, and again the lyrical work is incredible. The vocal work really reached a low point for me on the song “Exiled Within My Mind”. Jade, like a lot of singer-songwriters, can write lyrics with the best of them, but loses me with her style of delivery. I feel strange saying that, as I am a fan of Bob Dylan. I truly wanted to like this record, and it does have some qualities that are good. I was very excited to hear what Jennifer Batten is getting up to, these days; but at the end of the day her work here is just out of place (Steve Vai’s performance on PUBLIC IMAGE LTD’S “Album” might be a good comparison). Janina Jade has promise, but her vocal tics are going to hold a lot of people at bay.