Singer/songwriter
Mason Jennings' 2013 outing
Always Been is a melodic and organic album that finds the journeyman artist continuing to explore intimate themes of love and loss. The album follows up
Jennings' 2011 ode to his home state,
Minnesota, and features an acoustic vibe that harks back to his early albums. As with all of
Jennings' work, this release demonstrates his knack for catchy, folk-oriented songs built around simple guitar structures and rhythmic lyrics. On "Number of the Sun,"
Jennings sings "One, one is the number of the sun/Hardcore when it doesn't shine no more/Two, two is the pain we're going through/Still can't believe it could be true." In that way, many of
Jennings' songs, like "Instrument" and "Rainboots," bring to mind the acoustic side of
T. Rex's Marc Bolan, as well as such luminaries as
Leonard Cohen and
Elliott Smith. Produced by guitarist
Bo Ramsey, who appears throughout the album,
Always Been also features appearances from
Ramsey's wife, vocalist
Pieta Brown. Together,
Ramsey and
Brown bring a layer of understated yet palpable earthiness and just a hint of country twang to
Jennings' songs. Perhaps the best way to describe
Jennings' music here is childlike and poignant. Which isn't to say his songs are naive or underdeveloped. On the contrary,
Jennings has crafted a deftly sophisticated album whose straightforward simplicity belies darker emotional truths. As with his song "Patti and Robert," which he wrote after reading singer/songwriter
Patti Smith's book Just Kids about her relationship with artist Robert Mapplethorpe,
Jennings sings "Oh, baby, let go of your pain, come and give it all to me." ~ Matt Collar