Do you remember playing with jigsaws as a kid? Remember the smug satisfaction and/or suspicion of your own genius as you watched them come together so perfectly, only to crash into cruel disappointment when the last few pieces just wouldn’t fit together no matter how much you wanted them to?
Sadly, Dublin-based The Jigsaw Jam‘s debut EP ‘There Was A Time’, released in May, brings that sense of frustration flooding back. You see, it in itself is, ahem, a bit of a puzzle. Here we have five well-written, well-constructed songs with a naturally warm and folksy sound performed by a clearly talented and accomplished bunch of musicians. By all appearances, that makes for a winning combination. The problem lies in the fact that, while there’s nothing wrong with what’s on offer, there’s nothing that really stands out about it either. There’s an odd and annoying sense of knowing how and why you could fall for these songs, but just not being able to.
Take the first track, Rosalee, for example. Technically, it’s hard to fault: the lightly upbeat melodies of guitar, piano and violin play around one another nicely, while the harmonies of Shane Davis and Brenda Weir stay sweet without becoming overwrought. It’s a rich enough sound, but it lacks excitement. Less than one minute in, the song has found its formula and, for the remaining two and a half, it barely changes from that. Later, the slowed-down Winter Bones and Those Days suffer from the same problem, settling into their deeper, layered rhythms too quickly and sticking to them almost too rigidly.
Saying that, the EP’s livelier moments do fare better. Bedroom Light sees Davis and Weir share vocal duties in a tale of “lonely hearts” on a drunken evening. With its gentle harmonies, poppy piano backing – and not-even-PG-rated lyrics – it’s hardly the raciest song you’ll ever hear about a one night stand, but it’s a catchy little number nonetheless. However, Rosebush is both the strongest and most trad-friendly track on here. The gorgeously nimble fiddle, playing against more subdued piano and guitar, raises the pace and really shows off the band’s ear for a good tune – even if the reasons why they’re apparently singing about gardening achievements in the chorus aren’t completely clear.
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what it is about ‘There Was A Time’ that makes it difficult to warm to entirely. It almost feels that there’s a piece – albeit a small one – missing: an element of surprise, perhaps, or experimentation. Since recording, The Jigsaw Jam have added a fifth person to their line-up, and maybe an extra set of ears is just what’s needed to rejig what they have and – yet again with the lazy metaphors – complete the puzzle.