Review
Genre and Mood
Her were a French duo who sang soul and R&B in English, and Jeanie J comes from the middle of their second tape. PAPER called them “France’s go-to answer [to] alt-RnB” and the tape’s press release quoted NYLON hearing sensual R&B “dripping with lust, sweat, and passion”. The feelings named here, intimate and soulful, are this page’s reading; no review describes Jeanie J on its own.
Song Summary
Jeanie J is track five of six on Her Tape #2, released on 7 April 2017, between Interlude and Swim. Victor Solf and Simon Carpentier wrote it, produced it with Michael Declerck, and sang it with five credited background vocalists. The tape continued their exploration of women, love, relationships and feminism, from maternal love between a mother and child to physical love between partners. Who Jeanie J is, the sources do not say.
Musical Breakdown
No source walks through Jeanie J part by part, so this breakdown follows what the credits and the reviews of the tape support.
Intro
Listen for what arrives first, the instruments or a voice, and how much space is left around it.
Main Section
Jeanie J runs four and a half minutes. Qobuz heard the tape balance soul, pop and electronic atmospheres; notice which of them leads as the song moves.
Outro
Listen for which voice is the last one standing as the song closes.
Concepts in Focus
Her’s earlier singles rested on vocal harmony, and Jeanie J has more voices than most. Here the credits name Maëva Atuvasa, Marion Mayer, Ellie James, Catherine “Joby Smith” Vignon and Brice Pihan as background vocalists: seven voices in all. Qobuz singled out the voice as the element that makes the project more human and gives it real sincerity.
The credits also show how much care went into mixing: Michael Declerck and Maxime LeGuil are both listed as mixing engineers, and Antoine Thibaudeau mastered the track. With seven voices to place, the mix decides how close each one feels.
Artistic Context
Solf and Carpentier met as teenagers in Rennes, studied classical music and formed Her in 2015; Her – Five Minutes and Quite Like introduced them, and Her – Her named Tape #1’s manifesto after the duo. Qobuz called Tape #2 a literary record, citing Jacques Lacan and Peter Handke’s poem for Wim Wenders’ Wings of Desire. Carpentier died of cancer in August 2017, four months after it came out.
Impact and Reception
Qobuz found “chansons réellement impressionnantes”, really impressive songs, on the tape, though the only song it showed was Queens. Jeanie J was not on the 2018 album, so this tape is where it lives. Listen late, quietly, and count the voices.
