Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The sound of the soft and sensual is normally a reserved occupation, it bats its eyelashes, it acts coy, it trips over its words in an attempt to look beautiful and alluring and yet somehow it only comes off as requiring attention for all the wrong reasons. It may dress to impress but it still has the unfortunate moment of finding a piece of straw from a hay barn tucked in its shirt or blouse.

There are times when you just have to give in to seduction, to Row With The Flow and accept that a kiss from a voice which carries harmony and promise is just that, true seduction of the senses, the ears, the mind and the soul; to get that feeling of the emotional wash, the tsunami which could crush a person’s steely resolve by the end of the album is one of the finest moments a person can hope for.

For Jen Gloeckner what is whispered on the Vine is not a rumour, it is not conjecture, it is the abiding truth of her point of view, the sensational realisation that sensual is not about weakness but being strong, the demands of the mind and understanding human traits, frailties and hopes is far more alluring than playing the rainbow and its unfathomable starts and endings.

To Row With The Flow, to go with the grain and not settle for a life in debt to other’s points of view, this the Vine that Ms. Gloeckner has managed with great sincerity and the beauty of allusion to whisper, then roar with all the grace of a lioness that music, her music is thrilling, charming and altogether substantial. Tracks such as Colors, Blowing Through, The Last Thought, Row With The Flow, the excellent Ginger Ale and Counting Sheep are the cornerstone of a modern revival, they are the scream that brings down with triumph any type of ism and in its place begins the groundbreaking work of a hopeful new era.

This is one for the Vine, the whisper that turns into conversation, the power of the performance just a step towards a dialogue and exchange of ideas that will benefit all; this is no mere flash of the musical eyes, this is the hard stare but connected with genuine affection for the lyrics and the listener alike. A smashing set of songs which climbs and soars with genuine appeal.

Ian D. Hall