Mette Juul: Change
Universal Music Group

Mette Juul: New York – Copenhagen
Universal Music Group

The debut album, Coming In From The Dark, by Danish singer/songwriter Mette Juul arrived ten years ago, which explains in part why the singing on her fourth album Change and its companion EP New York-Copenhagen is so poised. Eschewing unnecessary embellishment, she sings with a relaxed assurance, Juul confident in her ability to command attention without resorting to histrionics. Her approach is, in a word, refreshing. She's typically called a jazz singer, yet the label, while not wholly inaccurate, positions her too narrowly within a single genre. It's perhaps more accurate to think of her as an adventurous singer/songwriter whose vocal performances exhibit a jazz-like sensibility. In that regard, her approach shares something with Joni Mitchell, given that Juul's Change mixes original songs and standards much like Mitchell did on 2000's Both Sides Now.

That connection shouldn't be pushed too far, however: whereas Both Sides Now wrapped standards and originals in orchestral garb (with a small number of jazz players appearing too), Juul opts for small group settings that amplify the intimate quality of her performing style. Her predilection for guitar is evident on both releases, with Change featuring Ulf Wakenius, Gilad Hekselman, and Per Møllehøj (plus Juul herself) and the EP Wakenius, Møllehøj, and Mike Moreno, even if each appears on separate tracks. Rounding out the personnel are keyboardist Heine Hansen and bassist Lars Danielsson on the album, and Danielsson again on the EP.

On these releases, she impresses not just as a vocalist but as a songwriter and interpreter; in that regard, it's significant that some of the best pieces are Juul originals. There's nothing coy or evasive about the thematic dimensions in play either, Change having to do with life experiences, the progression from youth to adulthood, and relationships; the five songs on the EP, on the other hand, were, naturally, recorded in Brooklyn, Sweden, and Copenhagen and are exclusively covers. An overview of the thirteen songs on Change reveals a broad spectrum, with regret-filled ballads offset by a sweetly swinging charmer like Jobim's breezy “Dindi” and songs of a less wrenching nature such as “Without a Song.” Jimmy Rowles and Norma Winstone's “The Peacocks (A Timeless Place)” clearly holds a special place in Juul's heart, given that renderings of the drowsy evocation appear on both releases.

Juul uses the relaxed splendour of her voice to maximum advantage in a ballad such as “Beautiful Love” where her phrasing is exquisite. Accompanying herself on acoustic guitar, the presentation's as naked as it could be, but her vocalizing excels when the arrangement's so minimal. Instrumental accompaniment is consistently understated and tasteful. Double bass, celeste, and piano, for example, provide a striking backdrop to Juul's thoughtful delivery in “I'm Moving On.” The gently joyful tone of “At Home (There is a Song)” is rooted in Juul's nostalgic memories of childhood and the comfort of family (“This is a joyful place / Come as you are / It's easy to find the way / No Matter where you are”). One of the album's loveliest songs is her bittersweet ballad “It Might Be Time To Say Goodbye” for its melodic ache and the unsentimental yet nonetheless heartfelt vocal performance. As affecting is her “Young Song” (“What is perfect love / Is it just a song we heard when we were young”), the poignant material leaving no doubt as to her gifts as a songwriter.

One of two songs on the album by Antonio Carlos Jobim, “Double Rainbow” sees Juul at her most jazz-like, the singer here boldly riffing and responsive to the swinging feel of the material. With Hekselman providing stellar accompaniment, Juul's own “Northern Woods” is as jazz-inflected in the expressive phrasing of her vocal. While she does a credible job of Cole Porter's “Get Out of Town,” her forte clearly lies in emotionally intimate ballads as opposed to jazz swing. It's something of which she herself is perhaps aware, considering how heavily weighted the releases are to the former.

Though Juul chose to issue the releases separately, the five pieces on New York-Copenhagen were recorded during the same period as Change. When she started on the latter, she didn't know two releases would result, but once the songs were selected it became apparent that issuing separate sets made sense. While the twenty-six-minute EP's material would certainly have sounded at home on Change, the result might have been an overlong and thus less effective eighteen-song album. Further to that, the cover treatments on the EP are uniformly slow and intimate and thus work well as a stand-alone collection. They're extremely stripped-down, too: on three songs, Juul's accompanied by a guitarist only and on the other two guitar and double bass. In keeping with the title, she recorded three songs with Moreno in Brooklyn, one with Møllehøj and Danielsson at her home studio in Copenhagen, and the fifth in Sweden with Wakenius and Danielsson.

Leonard Bernstein's “Some Other Time” retains its emotive impact even when presented skeletally; certainly it doesn't hurt that Moreno's sensitively played electric guitar wonderfully complements Juul's nuanced voicing of Betty Comden and Adolph Green's lyrics. Animated by a subtle bossa nova-like feel, the Mercer-Carmichael classic “Skylark” wafts like the freshest of breezes, Juul's playful vocal again effectively supported by Moreno, the two even soloing together in a unison episode. The slow tempos at which certain songs are performed bolsters their already ponderous character. “For Jan,” a Kenny Wheeler tune with lyrics by Norma Winstone, takes on a pronounced dreaminess when presented so languidly. Strong too is “You Must Believe In Spring,” also executed at a slothful tempo. At EP's end, Juul revisits “The Peacocks (A Timeless Place),” again with Moreno as her partner. Without wishing to suggest the other guitarists impress any less, her performances with Moreno possess a special kind of magic.

Singling out one collaborator over another feels a tad misguided, however, when all of the musicians on these releases are so clearly in tune with the spirit of the material and Juul's sensibility. For anyone coming to her music for the first time, Change and New York-Copenhagen serve without question as superb introductions to this distinctive singer, songwriter, and interpreter and her particular artistry.

April 2020