Bethan
Dallas, Texas, United States | Established. Jan 01, 2010 | INDIE
Music
Press
Jesse James aka Bethan, out of Denton, Texas is our Indie Babe of the Week. Her new EP, Chapter 1, is a dark chronicle that showcases the deep, sultry voice of this gal. On tracks like “Bad Valentine” she becomes such a heartbreaker, but honestly it’s still hard not to smile while listening. “Katie K” the peppiest out of the 4 tracks, at least makes you turn your attention on disliking another misguided chick in town. “I Have Nothing To Say” is a gorgeous 60’s pop band take on empty love and a fitting close, as really we have heard so much promise already in under 20 minutes. - Handclap Movement
Bethan takes pride in her aesthetic. An aesthetic based on the sort of soothing melodies you’d expect from a nurturing mother, cut at the tendons with industrial habits. The offspring of this marriage leaves you with what I might imagine as a mother singing her baby to sleep, on acid- the mom, not the baby. Chapter 1:, the beginning of a journey, as I assume by the name, is a piece best listened to in entirety, as it stomps its way through a winding genre displacement that shuffles through a challenging laundry list of styles. Dingus - Dingus
Bethan is the moniker of Dallas, TX cowgirl Jessi James, who wields beats and bleeps like guns in a fistfight. Although James has been haunting the Dallas music scene for several years, the real fun began when collaborating with producer Roger Greenawalt (Ben Kweller, The Pierces), giving her punchy music a minimalist flair that seems simultaneously jazzy and familiar. She recorded Chapter 1 in New York at Shabby Road Studios, and has since assembled a five-piece band to tour with acts like Purity Ring, Eisley, Juliana Barwick, and Tennis. Today we're premiering Chapter track "Vague," and it's anything but self-referential in terms of Bethan's musical appeal.
"Vague" combines an almost reggae-esque base with James' sultry, scratchy vocals and an undulating chorus of synth-chords washing over track. Amidst cries of "I don't know why," we're pretty sure we can correctly identify the reasons we do love Bethan's casual groove.
- Baeble
Discography
Time Gone By
Chapter 1
Photos
Bio
We are, Jessi Hall, Daniel Hall, Jesse Hopkins, Kevin Howard, and Becki Howard.
We make the music that we love. The last two years have been spent developing a collection of songs inspired by George Gershwin, Tom Waits, David Lynch, and Serge Gainsbourg.
OUR STORY
Bethan was at first a studio project. "Vague" was the first song completed at Shabby Road Studios in the Fall of 2010 as a writing exercise with Roger Greenawalt, a producer in Brooklyn, NY. That song began a creative process that lasted a year a half and eventually became Chapter 1. As life would have it, by the time that EP was released, absolutely everything had changed.
Jessi James became Jessi Hall. A new job, a new marriage, a new neighborhood, and a desire to begin a creative partnership with Daniel changed absolutely everything. The couple spent a great deal of time reimagining the music that expressed what their life had become and to continue down the electronic path of Chapter 1 would have been dishonest.
In their first apartment in Oak Cliff, the Halls began writing music that was much more like their surroundings. Oak Cliff is an old neighborhood in Dallas, full of early 20th century charm-- a strong sense of the past everywhere you turn. Jesse Hopkins, Becki Howard and Kevin Howard just made sense as the best fit for discovering this new sound as a band. Luckily they agreed and slowly, one by one, the five began creating new songs together that were... honest.
Time Gone By, our first full length album, was recorded at Redwood Studios in Denton, Texas with McKenzie Smith (of Midlake). It will be released on October 7th, 2014.
Links
