Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The sense of remarkable cool that comes across in John Jenkins And The James Street Band new single, Tell Me Joe, is not to be underestimated, indeed the hearty groove initiated at the start of the single, almost Bryan Adams-esque in its delivery, the tale that unfolds is one of outstanding collaboration and a desire of a new phase of John’s life encouragingly taking place.

It is in that initial strum of the guitar that sets the scene, a harkening back perhaps to a time of pushing a narrative of a story that speaks fully of the Americana that has guided and influenced millions from across the wide expanse of the Atlantic Ocean.

Tell Me Joe is, as the musician insists, fun, it has the endearing positive sound to which many yearn to have in times of darkness, the influence of something other than the bleak reminder that hangs around us like a dense winter fog filled with images of hazy memories of love, dreams, and passion.

Ahead of a much-anticipated new album, Tell Me Joe is a winter escape, those foggy closed in nights exchanged for a spell in the sunshine, the members of the James Street Band adding a seismic explosion of sound that adds a terrific expression of beauty, of pleasure to Mr. Jenkins outlook in his newfound freedom.

A single out of context is always a hard one to define, but as the musician always finds the right place in which to offer an examination of peace within the framework, so it is his right to be majestic, to see the potential of the song not as one of a book end but a whole new approach, a doubling of the signpost to where the ubiquitous Joe could just smile, as for us all, and reply that the destination is the same, just a diversion of thought separating the journey.

Another year maybe, but with John Jenkins adding colour, sensitivity, and pure cool to the dream of music it could be, it will be, an incredible set of music contributed from the man and his collaborators.

Ian D. Hall