RADAR: Jennah Barry

Six years ago, Nova Scotia's Jennah Barry headed off to Toronto to study music, find her own singing and songwriting voice and eventually ending up as a member of The O'Darling, the inventive art-pop collective led by Colin Nelis. When Barry headed back east to reconnect with her familial and familiar surroundings, she brought back songs that told tales of heartbreak, sadness and struggle of a young woman in a big city, songs that form the nucleus of her auspicious debut album Young Men. In the studio, Nelis took the production reins with assistance from Barry and engineer Diego Medina with backing support from a few of her O'Darling mates. The songs that surfaced from the sessions are modest and simply produced, ultimately possessing an unaffected and honest charm. Stripped to the bone tracks like the swaying "Honey" and "Slow Dance" allow an intimacy that draws the listener in close while the more fully fleshed tracks like "The Coast" and "To Be Patient" accelerate slowly, building power but never eclipsing Barry's natural vocal subtleties. An album that on initial listening might come across as fragile and ethereal gains strength over repeated listenings, a depth revealed in small but effective and lasting moments.

Jennah Barry - "The Coast" (from Young Men)

Jennah Barry - "Honey" (from Young Men)

Stream the full album at Bandcamp...(Videos below)