Spirit - Jewel (CD 1998)

Jewel's smash 1995 debut album, PIECES OF YOU, reinvented the folk singer image, moving from the flower-draped hippie to full-fledged sex symbol. Now Jewel, who embarked on a film career late last year with the Ang Lee-directed "Ride With the Devil," delves into more reflective territory with her soul-inspired SPIRIT.

Jewel's sweet, alluring voice dominates this low-key album, producing more contemplative, radio-ready singles than PIECES OF YOU's brooding laments. She croons with the same deep inflection of 1960s folk singers like Joan Baez, but with a seductive modern slant.

"Hands" and "Absence of Fear" are easily the best tracks on this stellar album, proving producer Patrick Leonard, who has also worked with such singers as Madonna, certainly knows a hit-- and a hit singer-- when he hears one. He has molded Jewel into a combination of spiritual beast, pop diva and bare-footed beatnik, who possesses the power to capture her listeners with messages of faith and purity.

"Hands," the first single off SPIRIT in the tradition of Billboard chart toppers like "You Were Meant for Me" and "Foolish Games," best displays Jewel's amazing range and maturing vocal talents as she jumps from high soprano solos to subtle whisperings.

Jewel's steady, breathy vocals also carry "Absence of Fear." While pianos and strings add that necessary romantic touch, Jewel's confident voice continues to take center stage-- and with good reason. Her voice resounds with sensual undertones and lyrical brilliance, as she declares, "Inside my heart there's an empty room/It's waiting for lightening/ It's waiting for you."

But romantically flavored lyrics also unfortunately glaze over "Kiss the Flame," one of SPIRIT's weaker ballads. The melody's sour twang is more grating than passionate and inspiring.

"Do You" also pays homage to Jewel's rural upbringing with lyrics that warn against the world's obsession with superficial, material needs: "Hey, you say you like the way the cowboys tip their hats and say/'How's it goin' ma'am?'/But you're never quite clear if their glares are sincere." The track's fast, staccato rhythm complements the song's subject matter, but it is more of a poem set to music than anything. Although Leonard's strong piano solo ends the song on an upbeat note, this one is definitely worth skipping.

"Down So Long," however, surpasses its cliched beat-- reminiscent of everything Tom Petty-- with a surprising note of optimism amidst an album mainly focused on heartbreak and bigotry. Although her "pocketbook and [her] heart just got stolen," Jewel insists it can only get better from here.

"Life Uncommon" begins slowly and quietly, but soon picks up speed to turn into one of the album's more rhythmic offerings. Fellow folk singer Jude Cole lends background vocals, harmonizing well with Jewel's strong, steady voice while Leonard's piano and guitar riffs rage in the background.

"Deep Water" returns to the subtle laments of "Foolish Games," but with a graceful clarity absent in previous efforts. Although at times the lyrics may be a bit overly poetic-- "And you wake up making love to a wall"-- Jewel's high soprano will take listeners away all on its own.

While SPIRIT's tracks reveal Jewel's talents as both a singer and song writer, it is the utterly rich vocals that will sweep listeners away, enticing them to buy this worthwhile effort. And it makes one helluva make out album as well.