What does Jenny Parrot sound like?

Alternative acapella.

The review of Jenny Parrott – Pregnancy Choir

Sometimes a small project can make a big impact and that’s how Jenny Parrott has tackled her latest release. ‘Pregnancy Choir’ is an almost entirely acapella collection of seven songs, totalling eight minutes in length. Recorded as Jenny was pregnant, she wanted to convey the mixed emotions of joy, worry and discombobulation that pregnancy brings as someone tries to stop the cycle of abuse that came before them. It is a heavy topic but Jenny has made the music feel fluffy and airy as if to sugarcoat the pain.

In many ways, it does calm and relax you but never fully. With most songs lasting 50 seconds, they convey snippets of ideas that I’d have loved to hear expanded. ‘Sharp Sound’ meshes Jenny’s alternative focused drenched shoop-shoops with an in-room style of voice recording of main vocals over the top. Along with tracks like ‘Rain’ and ‘Runnin’ To You’, they feel grounded in delightful melodies but with a strained almost panicked undercurrent. In contrast, other pieces like ‘In 6 Rows’ and ‘Origin’ are more dissonant as if ancestral lines are talking at once or leading you on an ethereal vapour trail. Just the closing track ‘Make Me Love’ uses sparse acoustic guitar in the mix but the vocals are still the main draw.

‘Pregnancy Choir’ is definitely an acquired taste as it hints at ideas rather than giving them fully formed. I love the concept and the idea behind it and my mind was associating Jenny Parrott’s different octaves of delivery as different ancestors calling to break the abuse cycle. The melodies are brief though and that makes it difficult to stick in your mind so it’ll be one of those releases you pick up, have it potentially make an impact on you, but you won’t return back to it for melodic memories. It’ll be the emotional connection if it hits you.

Recommended track: Sharp Sound

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