Jessie Lee & The Alchemists - Let It Shine (2021)

Three years after their founding, Jessie Lee & The Alchemists released their highly acclaimed debut album of the same name in 2018. And now the French, who are already celebrated as the hope of the European blues scene, will deliver their follow-up album "Let It Shine" on May 7th.

The troupe consists of the singer and guitarist Jessie Lee, who comes from the Parisian blues scene, and her long-time musical partner Alexis “Mr. Al “Didier, also guitarist, as well as bassist Laurent Cokelaeres, drummer Stéphane Minanas and organist Laurian Daires. There are also some guest musicians (wind instruments, choir) on the album.

Musically, the album is an analog recorded and mixed reminiscence of the classic blues / blues rock of the 70's with ten powerful, sometimes tough, and elegiac songs, enriched with numerous stylistic elements of soul. And only two tracks on the album really last less than five minutes.

While the rockier tracks are mostly dominated or accompanied by hard bass lines, the quieter and more bluesy pieces always have elements of soul music. In some songs, Jessie Lee's voice even reminds me of Dani Klein, the singer of the 80's band "Vaya Con Dios" ("But You Lie").

In general, Jessie Lee has a very powerful voice and her voice convinces in the loud numbers as well as in the quieter tracks ("But You Lie", "Let It Shine", "One Only Thing", "You Took My Mind Away") is even more impressive. The performance of keyboardist Laurin Daires also deserves mention. With its carpets of sound and flashing inserts, it definitely contributes to the mood of the work ("Another", "The Same", "Get Out Of My Head").

We especially liked the tracks “The Same” (with a hard rhythm and calm vocal middle part), the pleasant and soulful mid-tempo piece “Let It Shine” and the bluesy-soulful “One Only Thing”, in which Jessie's warm voice (here on Layla Zoe reminding) is only sparingly accompanied by drums and bass and only joins keyboard and guitar towards the end. The best song for me, however, is the almost nine minutes (!) Long, acoustic and sometimes gospel-like ballad "I Don't Need To Say".

As a French band, Jessie Lee & The Alchemists first became known in our neighboring country. But that should change with this long player. They already won several prizes at the International Mississippi Blues Trial Challenge in 2018 and the following year they were invited to represent France at the European Blues Challenge 2021. So a good start has been made. We keep our fingers crossed for Jessie Lee and her peers. The album gives every reason to do so.