Three Things (LP) - Elizabeth Shepherd (Jazz/Soul) Six-time JUNO award nominee Elizabeth Shepherd returns with seventh studio album “Three Things”, written during the pandemic as an exploration of the sounds found at home. This origin doesn’t surprise us due to the intimacy of the album, generated from a combination of sound selection and spatial production that puts the listener right next to Elizabeth to bear witness to her creativity. An impressive showcase of musicality and an example of an artist immersed in her element, we dig into the eleven-track LP below.
First, a little about Elizabeth. The celebrated jazz-soul musician is on the road, taking her Elizabeth Shepherd Trio show from Montreal to London with a performance at Pizza Express’ The Pheasantry in Chelsea on April 16th. Aside from her JUNO award nominations, Elizabeth has shared the stage with the Quantic Soul Orchestra, Christian MacBride, and Victor Wooten, and opened for Jamie Cullum at his sold-out Hollywood Bowl show. No stranger to the radio, Elizabeth has also appeared on NPR, BBC Radio 1, and CBC Radio’s art show Q, and has also been featured by MOJO, Straight No Chaser and London Evening Standard.
On “Three Things”, Elizabeth illustrates what sits underneath all of these accolades—an impressive musicality that rises above form to allow for pure, unadulterated play. It’s an intimate experience, with the use of reverb and recording techniques creating an almost surround sound feel to the album, which works to stick the listener in the center of a private jazz club or even Elizabeth’s own living room. When listening to “Three Things” you feel less like an audience member and more like a friend who has been invited to sit in on the creative process.
Your seat is right next to Elizabeth, who’s delicate and close vocal slips right into your ear. While certainly rooted in jazz—from the travelling base lines to the sizzling percussion—she cleverly bakes in synth elements that elevate, not dominate, her productions. If drawing comparisons to the world of pop—where most of our references on this blog sit—we would place her lyricism and vocal performance in the realm of Fiona Apple, with production feeling close to Halsey’s “100 Letters”.
Among the standout tracks for us is the album opener “Time” which plays with time and melody in a way that both introduces you to Elizabeth’s playfulness while creating a dizzying effect to draw you into her soundscape that will permeate the rest of the album. Title track “Three Things” contains a bevy of ear candy—from the production of the background vocals and their ghostly reverse effects to the sparkling twinkle of the synths—that makes for an intoxicating listen.
But when those fuzzy rhodes kicked in on “Vernon Morning Star”, we found our favorite track. Elizabeth gets a bit funky on this one, as the simple touch of a lead synth line to her tight percussion arrangement adds vibrancy. Finally, the cavernous “All You Need” is a culmination of all of the elements on display throughout the album, leaving the listener with a soul stirring and haunting finale.