Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
To be Her By Design is to rip up the rule book and the historic illusion passed down in traditional forms that do more than suggest that womanhood in storytelling was fraught by the magnitude of being overlooked as pandering to a stereotype that consisted of a limited number of possible outcomes; from fairy tales to folk music, there were so few ways in which a song for example could capture the essence of a woman, the complexity and viewpoints beyond heroine or princess requiring rescue, the old and disfigured witch like queen, or enchantress shunned by society…as award winning musician Jenn Butterworth rightly conveys in her new album, Her By Design, with authority and meticulous observation.
Whilst at times we have to be cautious on how we apply modern standards to issue of the past, the contemporary understanding and focus of the folk tradition that utilized beauty and despair, ugliness and purity, is for the most part discarded to the bin of history; and yet pockets of description of such male gale and fantasy still exist, and rather than seeing the soul for the vulnerability they have had to carry, the pain they have endured, we still see a person, and judge them for the quality of their outward appearance rather than the story they have to impart.
An album of the woman’s experience, a reimagined direct approach from a feminist standpoint, Her By Design intentionally brings together the eight tracks that make up the album in such a way that the opening track, a subtly of expression that reflects on Sandy Denny’s epic prowess in the song All Our Days, and which powers through tracks such as Fair Maids of February, The Housewife’s Lament, Jeannie, and the exceptional closer of Her Bright Smile Haunts Me Still with commitment and the desire to push past the negative stereotypes.
It is in the responsible and agile hands of Jenn Butterworth, turning her mind to self-producing the album, that the addition of quality musicians in Seonid Aitkin on violin and string arrangements, James Lindsay on bass and moog, and Louis Abbot on drums and percussion adds drama and captivation to the overall effects laid down by the celebrated musician.
The experience may have been a personal challenge to herself, but how Ms. Butterworth presents the album to the listener is one of pleasure, of style, and of certainty; Her By Design is a blueprint for others to take note and follow from.
Ian D. Hall