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Better known as the principal singer/songwriter for (the now disbanded)
Sunny Day Real
Estate, Jeremy Enigk (pronounced ee-nihk) arrives here with
his debut solo work, Return of the Frog Queen.
This return precipitates a
near-audible sigh of relief from Sunny Day fans as they feared the worst
after the break-up of the band. The SDRE rhythm section have since gone on
to national prominence as Foo
Fighters, but the question remained what was
up with Jeremy? Jeremy's spiritual re-awakening was the stuff of legend
thanks to his self-penned, and subsequently oft-posted,
email testimonial.
Now, almost 2 years later, Jeremy follows that testimonial with Return of
the Frog Queen, and a more auspicious affirmation of musical intent one
could not hope to ask for.
Sunny Day Real Estate, for those of you just returned from
Peace Corps
posts, were the dynamic quartet out of Seattle that gave voice to passionate
misfits across the nation, from Curtis Pitts to John Stewart. Formed in
1992, SDRE's three year tenure earned them unprecedented critical and
commercial success. This success was all the more remarkable considering
their iconoclastic no press kit-no interviews (no shows in California)
policy. Said policy inspired that much more attention be paid to their
musical performances. That heightened state of anticipation and attention
greeted Jeremy's infamous email post. In the message, Jeremy offered up
intimate details of his personal transformations at large; in the band, and
most importantly for him, as a Christian.
The passion with which fans pored over the note mirrored the way they hung
on every musical note. Jeremy's ability to keep listeners' rapt attention,
literally, from a whisper to a scream led many to dub his voice as that
voice. Jeremy began honing that voice at the tender age of thirteen in his
first band. Frustrated with his attempts to communicate his musical vision
to his peers he adopted the guitar as his instrumental tool. Since then he
has taught himself keyboards, percussion, and all sorts of stringed
instruments. On Return of the Frog Queen he utilizes his harping to great
effect, not to mention having acquired a Cello and four days later recording
it for the album (for the record, he deferred his chops to the trained
professionals).
The year is now 1996, and Jeremy Enigk releases Return of the Frog
Queen on
an unsuspecting world. Exposing the psychedelic underbelly of modern
emo-core, Jeremy draws on the seemingly disparate elements of punk and
classical musics. 'Emo-core', for the uninitiated, is the passionately
emotional offspring of 80s hardcore, both Fugazi and SDRE being sometime
exemplars of the form. Hence, the 'punk' pedigree (especially in light of
Jeremy's self-taught musicianship). The 'classical' part is in both the
orchestral nature of the work and the compositional aspects of 'classic
rock'; imagine a cross of Nick Drake and John Lennon immaculately produced
by George Martin, augmented by a 21-piece orchestra.
Return of the Frog Queen is the stunning result of a year's worth of effort;
and it is certain to live up to fans of Jeremy's previous work with Sunny
Day Real Estate. It is also poised to cross over to heretofore undreamed
audiences. By extrapolating the passion and graceful bombast of his
previous band and delicately draping it in acoustic and orchestral textures
Jeremy has created a work of astounding and enduring beauty.
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