Jessica Clemmons - 'What If'

Hailing from Texas, country singer-songwriter Jessica Clemmons is set to release What If, her third EP, to tie in with her performance on the C2C: Country To Country Festival in the UK on 15th March - you can currently purchase the EP digitally. What If marks her first collection of country tunes and Jessica's strong vocals are certainly impressive. 

Jessica was involved in the writing of all five tracks and she delivers a strong performance throughout the EP. Opener Love Like That opens with a steady pace from electric guitar and then drums. The production is very good in that it sounds like they paid real attention to the levels of instrumentalisation and Jessica is clearly heard without having to strain.

The EP then moves on to She Ain't Me. With lyrics such as "she might be right for right now but she ain't me" and "I know you're only lonely, she ain't no more than company", the lyrics have a gutsy feel that is complimented through the evident use of electric guitar and drums throughout.

The title track, What If, is placed in the middle of the EP. With a soft, emotive vocal opening the track then slowly builds up to the chorus where the majority of the production is and then fades nicely as each chorus repetition comes to an end. Jessica's powerful vocals are probably most evident in this track, particularly in the chorus.

Drunk On Me is the rockiest track on the EP and is instrumentally led by electric guitar and drums. The whole production lends the track a party feel alongside lyrics such as "you wanna get a little crazy well maybe baby I'm what you need". Whilst quite a heavy instrumentalisation is used throughout the track, Jessica's strong vocal means she can hold her own.

The last track on the EP is also the current single, Single Tonight. The track opens with an immediately rocky feel, helped by the electric guitar riff. Production wise, it is similar to Drunk On Me with the party feel and is a strong choice as a lead single. I also imagine it is great to hear live.




Track listing....
1) Love Like That - Jessica Clemmons, Jeff Cohen, Sherrie Austin, Lara Goodfellow
2) She Ain't Me - Jessica Clemmons, Jeff Cohen, Lindsey Ray
3) What If - Jessica Clemmons, Jeff Cohen, Zach Abend, Lara Goodfellow
4) Drunk On Me - Jessica Clemmons, James T Slater, Lara Goodfellow
5) Single Tonight - Jessica Clemmons, Jeff Cohen, Lara Goodfellow

I had been aware of Jessica as an artist before having heard this release but had never listened to much of her music and I have found myself pleasantly surprised by the strength of this EP. I would like to see the production pulled back at points, Jessica has a powerful vocal but it would be an interesting contradiction to have a track or two with considerably less production.

As previously mentioned, Jessica will be performing on 15th March at the C2C: Country To Country Festival in London so many UK country fans will be able to see her live there. I'd say she is definitely an artist that is worth keeping an eye on and it'll be interesting to see how Jessica develops.