FFWD Weekly
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CD Review by Mike Bell JESS KLEIN Draw Them Near Ryko · Major label debut from young Rochester, New York native, features guest work by Ken Coomer (Wilco) and Brad Jones (Matthew Sweet, Ron Sexsmith). Twining the vocal naiveté of Kelly Willis with the sexually charged and well-worn assuredness of Shelby Lynne, songwriter Jess Klein snares the heart and cups it with warm calloused hands. A lilting ache, with a hard embrace. Hence a trodden spirit dropping tragic missives like "I wanted love; all I had was pain/ I went for a walk to lose my disease" becomes resurrected with "Tell you what I’d like to do/ I’d like to put my hands on you/ Push you up against a wall/ Tell my friends all that I stole/ Give you my body and keep my soul." Klein’s 12 mercilessly tender songs mourn and seduce like earthy secular gospel psalms and echo Emmylou Harris at her most poignant, her most heart-broken, her most beguiling and her best. 4/5

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