Artist:     Lisa Jeanette

Album:     Jellyfish on the Moon

Label:     LisaJeanetteMusic

Release Date:     3.1.21

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Jellyfish on the Moon is a folk album loosely inspired by NASA’s experiments on the effects of a zero gravity atmosphere on jellyfish, a concept I found too intriguing to pass over. Who could blame jellyfish born on the moon for not understanding which way is up or down once introduced to gravity? The same could be said of many native Earthlings.

The Philadelphia-based Jeanette describes her style as “Kaleidoscopic Folk” to reflect a revolving array of influences, and it’s an apt description. The album is at its best when her strength as a songwriter is shining through. This talent is on full display in the more cerebral numbers such as the title track, “Jellyfish on the Moon,” and “Top of the Ferris Wheel.” It’s refreshing to listen through an album that tackles topics which sometimes stray from the beaten path. “Aging Like A Son of a B” is a joyful reflection on change and aging while still maintaining youthfulness. There’s an ode to the trials and triumphs of life in “Our Face,” and Vance Gilbert joins Jeanette for the quippy bonus track, “Mrs. Claus,” which riffs about an angry Mrs. Claus in need of a boat as global warming melts her home.

“Don’t Blame Me (Jolene’s Reply)” is exactly what it sounds like; a reply to Dolly Parton’s classic, “Jolene” from Jolene’s perspective. Upon first listen, I wasn’t convinced that it fully works as a rebuttal to the hit, since Parton never struck me as angry at Jolene so much as she was pleading with a nearly supernatural force, which is part of what made the original so haunting and powerful (Parton herself has noted in interviews that the song has its basis in an innocent flirtation between her husband and a bank teller). Still, the salt-of-the-earth lyrics have excellent points: “Your man is not the one for me, but if he wants another, cut him loose, set him free.” And Jeanette’s Jolene character does chip away at the notion that romantic rivalry between women is inevitable. Either way, the words are food for thought and deserve full marks for inventive lyricism.

—Leah Dearborn