Beth Jones revisited the golden era of jazz to cast a theatrical, intensely interstellar cloak of candour over it with her latest single, JOHNNIE WALKER RED. The London-based jazz-rock artist uses spooky performance art to tell the stories behind her songs, filtering 50s and 60s jazz through classic rock drama, personal vulnerability and deliciously haunted show’man’ship.
Through a cosmic Ziggy Stardust-esque glow, all the drama of Queen and the dark narrative style of Nick Cave, JOHNNIE WALKER RED feels like a velvet-curtained séance where the spotlight flickers but time signatures remain in freeform control. The single could absolutely be the gateway for goths into jazz; it has all the swagger, decadence and morosity needed to invite you to imbibe in the melancholy until you feel woozy.
Jones’ lyrical prose lands with accessible quaintness, yet the performance carries enough theatrical bite to pull the track far beyond novelty. Fans of Billie Holiday, Elliott Smith, and the spectacle of The Last Dinner Party’s baroque-pop will hear familiar sparks, but Jones takes them somewhere more smoke-swirled and cabaret-darkened.
Beth Jones deserves every ounce of hype The Last Dinner Party received, and honestly, I would not be angry if she became an industry plant. Talent this striking reaching the charts would be a surefire sign the industry is moving in the right direction.
JOHNNIE WALKER RED is now available on all major streaming platforms, including Spotify.
Review by Amelia Vandergast
