Born in 1990, multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter Olivia Jean came up through the suburbs of Detroit, steeped in the music of the Gore Gore Girls and the White Stripes. Eventually, one of her demos made its way into Jack White's hands at a Dead Weather show. Impressed with what he heard, Jack hooked her up with a bunch of likeminded individuals down in Nashville, which resulted in the Black Belles, Jean's short-lived garage goth band who released their only album in 2011 before going on hiatus. Still, their modest success emboldened Jack to sign Jean as a solo artist and produce her 2014 debut Bathtub Love Killings — Raving Ghost is her third album for White's Third Man Recordings.
Primarily recorded at L.A.'s Valentine Recording Studios with the rest captured at her home turf of Third Man in Nashville, Raving Ghost is Jean's second self-produced record after 2019's sophomore effort Night Owl. Her third outing counts collaborators like keyboardist Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket), Roger Joseph Manning Jr (Jellyfish), as well as drummers Carla Azar (T-Bone Burnett) and Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs), with engineering by Bill Skibbe (The Kills, Blonde Redhead). Some of these collaborations count among the finest examples yet in Jean's evolving catalogue.
The opening title track is unbelievably dope, a spooky little rocker that would fit well on a playlist with the Cramps, while the smouldering desert plains guitars, light sci-fi synth pads, pounding drums and haunting vocals lands "Spider" in Black Mountain territory.
"Trouble" arguably boasts the album's most killer hook, just the way Jean enunciates the title word is addicting in a way rarely captured this side of the Runaways. The hint of organ supporting the crisp guitar attack perfectly shapes the melody and lyrical cadence in a way that makes the whole song feel like a chorus.
Granted, tracks like "I Need You" and "Too Late" give off a Cars-meets-mid-career Tegan and Sara vibe that's a little too on the nose. Similar to the title track from Night Owl, this kind of art-pop new wave jangle doesn't quite sit right among the Dick Dale twang and Link Wray hard riffs in her wheelhouse. Jean is better off when she channels her inner Wanda Jackson (who she's played with on more than one occasion) through the stoned surf-rock vibe of La Luz.
This album is full of pleasant surprises, though. As an in-demand session musician, Jean's riffs are blistering throughout Raving Ghost. The album also features a cover of Enya's "Orinoco Flow" that completely transforms the heavenly new age classic into a spirited garage-pop jam that would do the Go-Go's proud. Like the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower," it's one of those covers that redefines the original so profoundly as to practically take the song as its own.
Possessing a gothic mystique and a healthy infatuation with mid-century Americana, Olivia Jean carries an undeniable and alluring sense of peril — number one with a bullet and a place to hide the body. Raving Ghost is here to remind you what a little hard work and a whole lot of dangerous music can do.
(Third Man Records)Primarily recorded at L.A.'s Valentine Recording Studios with the rest captured at her home turf of Third Man in Nashville, Raving Ghost is Jean's second self-produced record after 2019's sophomore effort Night Owl. Her third outing counts collaborators like keyboardist Bo Koster (My Morning Jacket), Roger Joseph Manning Jr (Jellyfish), as well as drummers Carla Azar (T-Bone Burnett) and Patrick Keeler (The Raconteurs), with engineering by Bill Skibbe (The Kills, Blonde Redhead). Some of these collaborations count among the finest examples yet in Jean's evolving catalogue.
The opening title track is unbelievably dope, a spooky little rocker that would fit well on a playlist with the Cramps, while the smouldering desert plains guitars, light sci-fi synth pads, pounding drums and haunting vocals lands "Spider" in Black Mountain territory.
"Trouble" arguably boasts the album's most killer hook, just the way Jean enunciates the title word is addicting in a way rarely captured this side of the Runaways. The hint of organ supporting the crisp guitar attack perfectly shapes the melody and lyrical cadence in a way that makes the whole song feel like a chorus.
Granted, tracks like "I Need You" and "Too Late" give off a Cars-meets-mid-career Tegan and Sara vibe that's a little too on the nose. Similar to the title track from Night Owl, this kind of art-pop new wave jangle doesn't quite sit right among the Dick Dale twang and Link Wray hard riffs in her wheelhouse. Jean is better off when she channels her inner Wanda Jackson (who she's played with on more than one occasion) through the stoned surf-rock vibe of La Luz.
This album is full of pleasant surprises, though. As an in-demand session musician, Jean's riffs are blistering throughout Raving Ghost. The album also features a cover of Enya's "Orinoco Flow" that completely transforms the heavenly new age classic into a spirited garage-pop jam that would do the Go-Go's proud. Like the Jimi Hendrix version of "All Along the Watchtower," it's one of those covers that redefines the original so profoundly as to practically take the song as its own.
Possessing a gothic mystique and a healthy infatuation with mid-century Americana, Olivia Jean carries an undeniable and alluring sense of peril — number one with a bullet and a place to hide the body. Raving Ghost is here to remind you what a little hard work and a whole lot of dangerous music can do.
