Crystal Jacqueline
Crystal Jacqueline lives in Devon with cats and geese and her partner Icarus Peel. When she's not looking after their smallholding, she finds time to sing and play keyboards with the The Honey Pot. Her first album for Mega Dodo, Sun Arise, was released in October 2013. It's chock full of classic psych, rock 'n' roll and acid folk. Goldmine Spin Cycle's liked it so much it named it one of the ten best albums of 2013.
Crystal Jacqueline's latest live album was released on 28th September 2018. It's available as a limited edition 180 gram white and black splatter vinyl LP. Her new studio album, A Prayer for the Birds, will be released in November 2019.
REVIEWS
Winter Deep
Dayz Of Purple and Orange
Also new from Mega Dodo is 'Winter Deep', the new single from Crystal Jacqueline, also another mainstay of both Fruits de Mer and Mega Dodo labels (her version of Jefferson's Airplane's 'White Rabbit' on the FdM 'Crystal Jacqueline and The Honeypot' single is possibly one of the best cover versions I've heard). Crystal Jacqueline is the purveyor of lovely psych / psych folk and is blessed with a bewitching voice that ensnares listeners in multicoloured tendrils of dreamy melody.
The track 'Winter Deep' is a hazy psychedelic folk number; Jacqueline's vocals riding dreamily above some beautiful melancholic guitar. It is a truly beautiful song with vocals and gentle instrumentation that lull you into a state of relaxation and letting the pressure of everyday life slip from your shoulders...it should be prescribed as a remedy for stress. 'Feast Of Stephen' is another folk based number but one rooted in folk rock rather than pastoral musings. It has a experimental feel to it with the layering of vocals giving it a slight dissonent feel, but the track is none the worse for it. A live medley of 'Rainflower / Mary Waiting' brings it all to close. The vocals prove to be just as pin sharp live as they do in the studio, testament to Crystal Jacqueline's pure voice. 'Rainflower' is a simple folk number, just voice and acoustic guitar and sounds like a folk Cocteau Twins. The seamless segue into 'Mary Waiting' sees the tempo lifted and the acoustic strumming become more urgent but still with those lilting vocals.
The three tracks on the single showcase admirably the vocal skill of Crystal Jacqueline and her ability to capture and captivate an audience with her voice alone. A beautiful collection of songs.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
March 16, 2015 Dave Thompson Goldmine magazine
Few albums in recent years can be said to have eclipsed Crystal Jacqueline’s Sun Arise, although one comes very close. And the fact that it’s her own follow-up set detracts from neither her debut’s brilliance or its successor’s genius.
Opening with a “Siren” that restates her uncanny ability to channel Grace Slick without really sounding remotely like her, but powering on through ten songs that merge her musical taste for classic psych with a literary bent that bows through darker pastures, “Rainflower” hits its first peak early, with a “Winter Deep / Dress Of White Lace” that kickstarts memories of the scary bits from Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, without offering you a single reason to think in those terms.
The mood lightens across “Daisy Chains,” which is the kind of thing Pink Floyd might have thought of as a potential hit single around 1968, while the post-Barrett spacemen re-emerge across a gorgeous cover of “Grantchester Meadows,” restyled as eastern mantra and reminding us that that band’s most overlooked era (apres Syd, pre-Meddle) is also the source of their most fertile fruit.
If anything here states Crystal Jacqueline’s magic, though; even more than the sensual soul that is the heartbeat of her own compositions… even more than “Mary Waiting,” whose voice and bee-hum intro alone with steal your eyes…, it’s her take on Status Quo’s “In My Chair.” Once a slice of luciously lazy rhythm’n’boogie, here it is recast in some dark place midway between “Season of the Witch” and “Lucifer Sam,” supremely foreboding, sexy and sinuous… and underpinned by a guitar riff that sounds like a pagan God clearing his throat.
Do you even need to ask any more?
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
July 8, 2015 Henry Schneider, expose
Each new release shows an artist that continues to grow and mature. And it has been a joy to witness this through her various Fruits de Mer and Mega Dodo albums. This May saw the release of Jacqueline’s latest solo effort Rainflower. I first thought "rainflower" was a made-up psychedelic flower -ower word, but in fact a rainflower is a tropical plant in the Amaryllis family, AKA fairy lily or magic lily, an apropos name for this new album of gothic/psych/acid folk music. Jacqueline’s fellow Honey Pot band mate Icarus Peel once again wrote and produced her new solo album. The songs are darker and stronger, and there is a subtle theme here as four of the eleven songs refer to flowers: “Water Hyacinth,” “Daisy Chain,” “Strange Bloom,” and the title track. These songs also tie into an overall blissful bucolic psychedelic ambiance finding roots in Pink Floyd’s Ummagumma and More. Icarus Peel does not really capture David Gilmour, but the feeling is there. The stand-out songs for me are the ghostly and mysterious “Dress of White Lace,” where Jacqueline’s voice is more like an added layer of instrumentation; “Daisy Chain,” that is one of the upbeat songs with some tasteful sitar lending a raga rock flavor; Jacqueline’s beautiful reinterpretation of the classic “Grantchester Meadows” that appeared on Fruits de Mer’s 2014 Pink Floyd tribute A Momentary Lapse of Vinyl; “Rainflower”; and the closer “Again… Dragonfly” evoking comparison’s to Amon Düül II’s “Surrounded by the Stars.” Quite an excellent release.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
March 10, 2015 Broken Hearted Toy
Crystal Jacqueline sort of magically floats through the English psych and prog rock scene as a vocalist for the bands The Honey Pot and The Green Question Mark, while her solo work has been released on the Mega Dodo and Fruits de Mer indie labels. She sings about fairies and witches within arrangements that vary from medieval to space age. On her latest release Rainflower, which will be released as a limited-edition180g LP and as limited edition digi-pack CD by Mega Dodo on May 25th, Crystal Jacqueline performs a mix of covers and originals produced by her fellow Honey Pot member and bona fide eccentric Icarus Peel.
Most of the tracks on Rainflower feature poetic lyrics by Peel that describe both the enchantment and dangers existing within nature. “Strange, the darkness never bothered me before,” Crystal Jacqueline sings on the slow and ominous “Again... Dragonfly,” and later asks “Can’t you see I yearn to drift away from all of this?” “Mary Waiting” opens with nothing more than her pristine vocals and the buzz of flying insects before morphing into a shimmering, orchestral arrangement. A cover of Pink Floyd’s “Grantchester Meadows” is steeped in pastoral folk music but features percolating synthesizers along with acoustic guitar.
The title track, “Water Hyacinth,” and the epic finale “Winter Deep/Dress Of White Lace,” find Crystal Jacqueline and Peel opting for a more delicate approach that still exudes an air of mystery. A version of Status Quo’s “In My Chair,” which only appears on the CD, and “Daisy Chains” are fueled by energetic guitar and synthesizer instrumentation. Throughout all the tempo and style changes on Rainflower, the lure of Crystal Jacqueline’s ethereal and often layered vocals remains consistent.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
Duncan Fletcher :Harmonic Distortion
Pastoral psychedelia, acid folk, bright psych-lite pop and a Status Quo cover! It's all there on the second solo LP from Devon's Crystal Jacqueline.
A glance at the track listing tells you something of this second solo LP from The Honey Pot vocalist Crystal Jacqueline. Multiple references to the seasons, nature, mysterious and unobtainable female spirits, all the hallmarks of an acid-folk album you'd think. A record in the vein of Vashti Bunyan's Just Another Diamond Day or Shelagh McDonald's Stargazer. And that's true to a point but there's much more to it than that. From the almost industrial sounds of opening track Siren it's obvious things are not so clear cut. Leave your expectations at the door sonic travellers for scattered among the Nick Drake-esque pastoral folk tracks are enough surprises, twists and turns to make this a much more multi-hued and varied affair.
For a start there's the inclusion two cover versions. A stab at Status Quo's In My Chair and a lovely assured take on Pink Floyd's Grantchester Meadows. The former is a tight Chicago R&B shuffle, souped up with effects-laden guitars, whereas Grantchester Meadows blue-sky folk gets an added space-rock edge. Strange Bloom has echoes of San Francisco's golden era, all bluesy and meditative, whereas Daisy Chain is a bright, psych-lite pop tune that in a fairer world would have a stay in the top 20.
As the album title suggests Rainflower thematically revolves around nature, seasons and the weather. For all its sonic diversity these lyrical concerns somehow piece it all together. A celebration of deep-winter and high summer, there's mystery, folklore, the beauty of bloom and the beauty of decay. And for all it's modern production it still resonates with the wyrd, deep-rooted ways of Old England. An album to re-visit and treasure.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
Ian Abrahams: Spacerock blog
I was enthusing about Electronic Memory, Mega Dodo’s Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey collection in Record Collector recently, a collection of songs, some of which had previously had appeared on vinyl via Fruits De Mer, just as I’d enthused about Sun Arise, Crystal Jacqueline’s first solo album back a couple of years ago in R2. What’s next is Jacqui’s newest solo recordings – of course in tandem with Icarus Peel – and after all that previous enthusing… well, here’s another record from deepest Devon to enthuse about!
Though it’s still infused through with that hazy 60s psychedelia that they’ve totally captured with such a delicate, light touch in their recordings, Rainflower feels like a more sophisticated, more grown-up record. Partly that might be because there’s more original material on this record than earlier albums, with Icarus’s song-writing in the ascendancy; perhaps they’re buoyed by the great comments both Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey Pot are getting both in print and across psych-related websites. I hope so. There’s a couple of great covers: Status Quo’s ‘In My Chair’ really bursts out, a much rock-driven track than we’re used to hearing and quite startling in its exuberance, and a rendition of the Floyd’s ‘Grantchester Meadows’ that’s also part of FdM’s ‘Momentary One’ 7” single that Ian McCann was reviewing in Record Collector recently.
But what’s great is the way that Icarus and Jacqui are stretching their creative legs and pushing, bending, their sound in different directions. ‘Siren’ is dark psych-folk, shimmering and unsettling with Jacqueline’s vocals being a, well indeed, siren call, imploring, tempting, dangerous. It’s a compelling track with its urgency at the fore. ‘Winter Deep / Dress of White Lace’ an opus, with Mordecai Smyth sharing writing credits, a cleansing and dreamy drift out of the darkness where the Winter is a frosty sharpness described by beautiful vocals and beguiling guitar playing that gives way to a Floyd-ish second half that applies a background of what I’m going to describe as idyllic looseness, that then wraps itself around a delicious and redemptive vocal.
The title track is summer afternoon after a thunderstorm, that perfect quality of air when everything feels renewed and refreshed. ‘Strange Bloom’ is an elusive and hypnotic trip that expands out into another heavier track, and ‘Again… Dragonfly’ is a mystical soundtrack that allows Jacqueline to put some power into the vocal delivery and add that extra bit of magical majesty to the evocative words. All the promise of Sun Arise confirmed and built on.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
David Hintz dcrocklive.blogspot.co.uk
The very name, Crystal Jacqueline, conjures up light psychedelic imagery and that is a fair starting point here. The female vocals have a relaxed clarity to them as they navigate the dreamscape paths the songs take. Sure there is a touch of the ‘Kiss in the Dreamhouse’ Siouxsie and the Banshees here, but the vocals are purer and not as intense. There is an interesting weaving of thick and thin sounds along the path of this album. The mood moves through a relaxing middle portion to a riveting send off with the title cut and closer pushing up to new heights. This path is clearly up to a distant peak, through the clouds and a chilly atmosphere. This English artist is a great successor to the likes of Vashti Bunyan, Mary-Anne, Mandy Morton, and many more.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
March 8, 2015 Aural Innovations
Crystal Jacqueline and cohort Icarus Peel have been on a roll since the debut Honey Pot album in 2012, chocking up a bevy of beautifully composed, executed and produced Psych/Folk/Pop/Prog songs and killer covers of both classic and obscure tunes. If you’ve read my past reviews you’ll know what a great job they do with the covers. But Peel has been flying high on my radar so I’m pleased to see a higher ratio of his originals on the latest Crystal Jacqueline outing – Rainflower.
The album opens with the Lullingly intense, Prog steeped, Pop-Psych song Siren, which takes a lighter bouncy turn near the end. The first part of the 10 minute Winter Deep / Dress Of White Lace is co-written by Peel and Mordecai Smyth, being a tenderly hypnotic, ethereally mind-bending Folk-Psych song with beautiful vocals, leading into a spaced out lysergic sound exploration passage before launching into the heavenly space-orchestral Dress Of White Lace. I floated along with the acoustic/electric guitar, organ, percussion and flute blend on Water Hyacinth. Daisy Chains is a heavy rocking blast of Psychedelic Pop. Mary Waiting consists of dreamily orchestrated Folk-Pop-Psych and lots of trippy jamming. I swooned to the darkly surreal and hauntingly seductive Strange Bloom, which is like a 60s Psychedelic take on the Torch song. The gently uplifting Rainflower is a gem. And Again… Dragonfly starts off with sparse, atmospheric instrumentation, the spotlight being on the vocals, before soaring into the cosmos for a blistering Psychedelic anthem finale.
Rounding out the set are two cover tunes: Jacqueline goes down ‘n dirty Psych-Blues rocking and injects freaked out efx into Status Quo’s In my Chair. And the spirit of the original is retained on Roger Waters’ Grantchester Meadows, though it’s imbued with a cool combination of acoustic drift and atmospheric intensity.
The production, also by Peel is stellar, giving the music an expansive and majestic back-in-the-day but with modern technology feel. This is like the best of Psychedelically orchestrated, craftily arranged and freakily efx’d 60s songs, but without feeling overly retro. And the vocals… Jacqueline is a wonderful singer but the way the harmonies and multi-tracking is handled brings a tear to the eye.
The album will be released on May 18th in CD and LP editions, both limited to 250 each, and of course there will be a download available as well.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
The Strange Brew
Crystal Jacqueline’s superb Floyd cover, ‘Grantchester Meadows’, featured on the recent Fruits de Mer Podcast, so it’s timely that it forms part of her forthcoming album ‘Rainflower’ available on Mega Dodo Records. Like her previous long player ‘Sun Arise’ intersperses a few choice reinterpretations of vintage material; however new material is the focus again, written and produced by Icarus Peel.
This modern take on 60s/70s influences works well throughout and Jacqueline’s voice consistently enchants the listener. Highlights include the acid-folk tinged ‘Winter Deep / Dress of Winter Lace’ recalling a Gathering The Mushrooms outtake, ‘Daisy Chain’, a war tinged ‘Dandelion Seeds’ plus the sultry psych of ‘Strange Bloom’.
The album’s title track ‘Rainflower’ is a memorable acoustic number recalling Nick Drake, with the moody closer ‘Again… Dragonfly’ providing a fitting climax.
Rainflower is released on 25th May as a 180g LP the first 100 of which come with an A5 postcard and scented rainflower petals. Also available as a limited edition digi-pack CD featuring the bonus track ‘In My Chair’.
Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey Pot launch ‘Rainflower’ at the Half Moon, Putney on 24th May as part of the Fruits de Mer and Mega Dodo ‘Games For May’ extravaganza.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
New Underground Music
Crystal Jacqueline was born in Wiltshire, England and at a young age she developed her talent and love for music.
They performed regularly in and around Bath, which constituted a valuable experience and her praise and later moved further to the South of the country, where they played in several bands, which performed at home and abroad.
She lives in Devon with her pig, cats, geese and her partner Icarus Peel, with whom she plays in The band The Honey Pot, which started in 2012 and in the beginning from 5 people existed, but nowadays only consists of: Crystal Jacqueline-voice and piano, Icarus Peel-all other instruments and Brian Rushbrooke-drums.
In 2010 she released her solo debut album "Heal Yourself" via Psychedandy Records from and in 2012 her first record with The Honey Pot, entitled "To The Edge Of The World" on the Mega Dodo label.
In november 2012, she recorded the EP "A Fairy Tale" on containing 3 covers: "Cousin Jane" (Troggs), "A Fairy Tale" (Second Hand), "Play With Fire" (Rolling Stones), which by Fruits De Mer Records was released.
Her last LP appeared "Sun Arise" was in 2013 through the Mega Dodo Records label on the market and contains 16 songs, including the songs from the EP "A Fairy Tale".
Her last published CD album with The Honey Pot "Electronic Memory", that in a very limited box Edition of 100 pieces appears, contains a 12 page booklet, 2 postcards and a badge. The tracks of the CD, whose cover "Hole In My Shoe" of Traffic for the first time on CD appears, were previously, in the summer of 2014, by Fruits De Mer Records on 2 vinyl Eps released.
"Rainflower" is the second album, that by 2015 of her again and appears all the songs written and produced by her husband Icarus Peel.
The album will appear on 180 gram vinyl on 25 may, with the first 100 copies are accompanied by an A5 poster and to rainflower smelling petals and also the album will appear as in a limited edition digipack with the bonus track "In My Chair".
The music of the album will be heard on May 24 during the performance of Crystal Jacqueline & The Honey Pot to The Half Moon in Putney, where they form part of the "Games For May Festival", that by Mega Dodo Records and Fruits De Mer Records is being organised.
The CD "Rainflower" contains 10 songs (the LP 9), of which the first is "Siren" and herein do I get to hear a delicious light psychedelic song, which is played in an average pace and by the end slowly to get a little more speed.
Then I hear the longest track of the plate, "Winter Deep/Dress Or White Lace" titled, that just over 10 minutes and in this issue let me enjoy a quiet Crystal Jacqueline psychedelic pop song, which, as the title suggests, has two parts.
This is followed by "Water Hyacinth", in which I turn such a beautiful quiet pop song to hear get (listen to this song via the youtube link under the review), followed by "Daisy Chains", a brilliant light psychedelic pop song, which has a swinging rhythm and is played in an average pace.
Then it's the turn for the extra track "In My Chair" and it serves me a fantastic Crystal Jacqueline swinging rock song, in which blues rock influences in by sound, with which they heard, not to be bound to certain types of music.
"Mary Waiting" start them without guidance and leave to be able to hear fine solo, after which the music in falls and I get a nice quiet pop song to hear and in "Strange Bloom" I get again a great nice quiet psychedelic pop song to hear, which they seem to have a patent.
With "Grantchester Meadows" I get a nice to hear in the hearing sounding pop song, which contains several fine tempo changes, after which the title song "Rainflower" follows me again and let them enjoy a delicious pop song, which is played in an average pace and in the latest issue "Again ... Dragonfly "I get a beautiful, quite obscure-sounding, pop song to hear.
Crystal Jacqueline has with "Rainflower" again succeeded in making an excellent plate, which is full of beautiful quiet numbers and I find this disc a must for every lover of the better pop music.
http://carrysnewundergroundmusic.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/review-
Crystal Jacqueline – “Rainflower”
Bliss Aquamarine
Second solo album from Crystal Jacqueline, also known for her work with The Honey Pot. There's more emphasis on original material here than on previous outings, with only one cover version on the LP, two on the CD. The focus is on delicate and atmospheric tracks with a magical mood. There's the beautiful, ethereal psych-folk of Winter Deep and Dress of White Lace, and the melancholic, introspective psych-pop of Water Hyacinth and Mary Waiting. Strange Bloom wraps an impassioned bluesy song in an eerie psychedelic arrangement. Rainflower is delicate folk-pop with undulating oboe creating a dreamlike atmosphere. One of the two covers is a very lovely psych-folk version of Pink Floyd's Grantchester Meadows. There are a couple of diversions into more upbeat, rockish areas, namely Daisy Chains, a psych-rock track with an authentic late 60s feel, and the Status Quo cover In My Chair, presented here as psychedelic blues-rock, which is exclusive to the CD version. Whilst I've enjoyed Crystal Jacqueline's previous releases, solo and with The Honey Pot, the new psych-folk direction this album is travelling in makes it my favourite album of hers so far. Available as of 25th May on limited edition CD or 180g vinyl LP from
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Ashley Norris Shindig! Magazine
Crystal Jacqueline is part of the west of England-based Honey Pot collective, whose rather enjoyable pop- psych (with a side rural acid- folk) album sneaked out earlier this year. And on this, her debut, she's pushed the dial a couple of years forward into the the '70s, creating some alluring psych-prog interludes not too far away from the likes of Curved Air and Renaissance.
As befitting a Fruit de Mers Records staple, Jacqueline has included a cover or two with the stand out being the atmospheric take on The Troggs' eerie 'Cousin Jane', which sounds even more sinister than the original. Equally as good is a version of Second Hand's 'A Fairytale', driven along by a squeaky organ and some punchy guitar. The originals are entertaining too. The title track is a glam-rock stomper while 'I Break' is a gossamer light acoustic ballad with an odd melodic twist.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Bliss Aquamarine
Following Crystal Jacqueline's recent EP on Fruits de Mer comes this full length album of covers and new material. Sun Arise is undoubtedly not the Rolf Harris song of the same title, but an intense psych-rock piece with atmospheric, spacerockish touches. A Fairy Tale, from the Fruits de Mer EP and originally by Second Hand, is an effective mixture of freakbeat, baroque and prog. Dream I is excellent ethereal yet strongly melodic psychedelia. Alice is whimsical and dreamlike psych-pop with lyrics inspired by Alice in Wonderland. Cousin Jane, also from the Fruits de Mer EP, adds a whole new lesbian twist to this creepy incest song originally by The Troggs. Fly A Kite, from the Mary Poppins soundtrack, is reinvented here as a mixture of psychedelic whimsy and more intense proggy moments. An enjoyable album, with inventive reworkings of vintage tracks and well crafted new material.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Goldmine
It’s one of those albums that you hear once, play again, and before you know it, an entire day has gone by and you’ve still not heard enough. Crystal Jacqueline may not be a household name … at least, not yet.
But in that corner of modern psychedelia that seems to be expanding with every passing day, a heap of Youtube clips have now transformed into Sun Arise (Mega Dodo) and, as 21st century debut albums go, it takes a lot of beating.
Think… classic Airplane merged with Syd Barrett’s Floyd, then drape them in sunshine flavored gauze. Think Me and My Kites and Us and Them, modern psychedelic warlords who have already run a few lap around our ears, then push them into the things that a starburst dreams of. Think “Let’s Go Fly A Kite,” and imagine Mary Poppins getting high on the first This Mortal Coil LP. Sun Arise is all these things, and every fresh spin brings a new thought to mind.
Crystal Jacqueline herself was a founding member of the Honey Pot, Brit psych merchants par excellence; and a founder, too, of the Green Question Mark, alongside Mordecai Smith and Marrs Bonfire.
She’s familiar, too, to anyone collecting Fruits de Mer, that most intrepid of vinyl 45 labels, and a few songs on the album have already spun on single. But still the main feast will devour you with unfathomable relish, because the songs that soar from the CD are ones you’ve been dreaming might sound like this for aeons.
The Stones’ “Play With Fire,” fragrant and tender, harpsichorded like the best of their ballads, but biting too with a passion that even Jagger-Richard never imagined; the Troggs’ “Cousin Jane,” stately and eccentric, a garage band covered with chintz-colored kisses, while skeletal piano dares you to dance. Jacqueline’s keyboards spin and swirl, her voice soars and sinks… Second Hand’s “A Fairy Tale” lives up its title with dreaming spires reaching beyond the sky, while dark guitar reminds you of the underbelly beneath; and Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown” has never seemed so sultry.
If the covers are the album’s easiest point of entry, at least for listeners who like to have at least a suggestion of what’s in store, Jacqueline’s originals come even closer to perfection – acid folk dancing in the arms of psyched out somber froth, precisely the kind of mood you imagine you’ll create when you make a mix tape of your top ten favorite oldies, but which never quite catches the breeze.
Autumn days, bonfire nights, a beauty with just enough beast within to make you huddle closer to the firelight, but you always leave one hand hanging free, just in case she wants to grab it. That is Sun Arise and if my initial response is to regret that it’s only available for now on CD, a newly-launched Kickstarter campaign would appear to agree. Pledges of varying amounts allow you fresh access to the magic, and a colored vinyl gatefold LP is the gold at the end of the rainbow.
This sun will be rising for a long time to come.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Terry Flamm: Broken Hearted Toy
Singer-keyboards player Crystal Jacqueline was already an active player in Britain’s prog rock/psychedelic scene before releasing her new solo effort, Sun Arise. She’s a founding member of the band The Honey Pot and she joined forces with musician Mordecai Smythe and radio personality/vocalist Marrs Bonfire to record obscure 1960s cover versions under the name, The Green Question Mark. A few of the songs on Sun Arise were previously released as a 45 on the all-vinyl label, Fruits de Mer.
Throughout Sun Arise, Crystal Jacqueline avoids prog rock over-synthesized cliches in favor of more inventive arrangements. On energetic songs like “A Fairy Tale,” originally recorded by Second Hand, and “Dream I,” she seems to command the elements of the universe to swirl around her as she spins tales via her atmospheric keyboards and vocals. On “By The Way” she blends piano and layered vocals in a medieval arrangement that’s both ominous and romantic. The melodic “I Break” is also steeped in Old World folk music. The title track opens with hypnotic chanting before introducing a boogie guitar sound reminiscent of Norman Greenbaum’s “Spirit In The Sky.”
Crystal Jacqueline puts her own stamp on the The Troggs’ “Cousin Jane” and The Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire,” and reinvents Gordon Lightfoot’s easy-going “Sundown” with a spare, techno approach.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Active Listener
The most contemporary sounding offering from this month's selection, "A Fairy Tale" is made up of three sixties covers, twisted into unfamiliar shapes with the help of fellow Honey Pot member Icarus Peel.
The Trogg's "Cousin Jane" is given a sparse, skeletal arrangement that hints at This Mortal Coil, while Second Hand's "A Fairytale" goes the rave-up route with lashings of organ, harpsichord, slashing guitars and I'm pretty sure I heard a kitchen sink somewhere in there too.
Best of all is "Play With Fire", transformed from it's already moody baroque-pop beginnings, into something even darker with a hypnotic, cascading guitar lick threatening to pull you down into a paranoid filled abyss. In the best possible way, of course.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
House of Prog
Vocalist and musician Crystal JACQUELINE is usually a member of The Honey Pot, but have started venturing out on her own these days as well. One of her first solo excursions is released now in August 2013 by specialist UK label Fruits de Mer Records, sporting three cover versions of songs that first were made famous by others issued on a good, old-fashioned vinyl single.
The Troggs Cousin Jane is first up, in this take a frail musical journey with a slow piano motif, occasional symphonic inspired backdrops and odd but effective rhythm effects supporting the sensual, longing lead vocals that might just make this version of the song a lesbian anthem. Second Hand’s A Fairy Tale is a more elaborate construction, alternating between a classic psychedelic sound of darker toned guitar riffs combined with organ garage rock style with lighter toned, richly layered themes sporting gentle guitars and symphonic backdrops of a Mellotron inspired quality as the main features, elements from these two contrasting movements combining in different arrangements towards the end. Calm, controlled lead vocals by Jacqueline on this song, which suits this take perfectly. Rolling Stone’s Play With Fire isn’t known as their most energetic creation, but this frail version of it with careful harpsichord and nervously reverberating light toned lead motif by the guitar is perhaps the most tender version of this song yet. Neat and gentle psychedelic guitar solo details makes occasional appearances throughout, and with lead vocals of a toned down, emotionally edged variety there’s tension by the truckload here too. A splendid take on a classic song.
If Crystal Jacqueline’s apparently forthcoming full length debut album manage to maintain the quality of this three track single, then she’s got all the musical elements she needs for a career going. A highly intriguing production by an artist that at least for me is a new acquaintance.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Psychotropic zone
This three-track 7” EP is the first Crystal Jacqueline release on Fruits de Mer and this lovely-voiced lady is skillfully assisted by another The Honey Pot band member Icarus Peel. First we’ve got the rather peaceful and small-scale cover of The Troggs song “Cousin Jane”. There’s some nice orchestration on this one. Things get much more interesting with the energetic, driving rendition of “A Fairy Tale” by Second Hand originally released in 1968. This is just marvelous 60’s freakbeat stuff! A nice guitar solo as well. Excellent! The third song is the dark, hunting The Rolling Stones B-side “Play with Fire” that I also enjoy very much. This is a very deep and emotional version that should please all psych and Stones fans. This 7” definitely makes me want to more stuff by Crystal Jacqueline. Check it out!
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
Strange Brew
Crystal Jacqueline’s debut album on Mega Dodo, “Sun Arise” mixes classic pop-psych with new on her enjoyable long player. Building on her work with neo-psych group The Honey Pot and success of her recent Fruits de Mer EP, album opener “Sun Arise” branches into proggier territory mixed with glam stomping guitar. We then hear EP duo Second Hand’s “A Fairy Tale” weaving I Can’t Explain mod-freakbeat then the Stones “Play With Fire” played darker than the baroque original. All the tracks highlight her excellent vocals with a new dimension brought to some of the male led originals, like the now even creepier “Cousin Jane” (originally by The Troggs). Despite blending originals with new material “Sun Arise” works as a whole album, with other stand-outs include the romantic melancholia of “Who Do You Love” and “By The Way”.“Sun Down” rounds off this delightful record with more mellotron sounds and exquisite harmonies with another warning to its female protagonist. For a refreshing approach to the UK psych scene do give check out Crystal Jacqueline’s “Sun Arise”.
Terry Flamm: Broken Hearted Toy
Crystal Jacqueline has been keeping busy within England’s psychedelic music scene; performing with The Green Question Mark (which also includes Mordecai Smythe) and The Honey Pot. (See January 30, and February 2013, respectively, in Archives.) This three-track single finds her working with Icarus Peel, from both of the previously mentioned bands. The eclectic choice of covers on “A Fairy Tale” ranges from the well known to the obscure, but she gives each song an authentic late 1960s feel.
“Cousin Jane,” originally recorded by The Troggs on their Trogglodynamite album, is one of those songs where a creepy underworld lurks beneath deceptively simple lyrics. Crystal Jacqueline gives it an ominous piano, synth, and strings arrangement that’s fairly similar to the original. Virtually no one in the States has heard of Second Hand, but Crystal Jacqueline does the English group’s 1960s gem “A Fairy Tale” proud with a swirling, high octane mix of psychedelic and garage rock. She doesn’t bother to flip the genders on The Rolling Stones’ “Play With Fire,” but her bewitching vocals and haunting keyboards suggest there might be other-worldly consequences if you did try to cross her.
Expose Online
Henry Schneider
Ever since I discovered Crystal Jacqueline from her two Fruits de Mer releases, I have been fascinated and trying to fully grasp what she is doing musically. With the release of her debut album I have now concluded that she has created something new, what I will call Gothic psych. You only got a taste of this on her debut 7-inch single, all three songs are included on the album (“Cousin Jane,” “A Fairy Tale,” and “Play with Fire”). In addition there are seven songs penned by Icarus Peel, fellow Honey Pot band mate, and two other cover tunes that will surprise you: “Fly a Kite” from the Disney movie Mary Poppins and the album closer, Gordon Lightfoot’s “Sundown.” Many of these cover songs I would normally consider to be upbeat and cheerful. But Crystal’s beautiful voice and singing lends a sinister ambiance to the psychedelic and otherwise trippy music. I did not understand this when I listened to Crystal’s recent double 7-inch on FdM, which put me a little off on her renditions of “White Rabbit” and “I Had Too Much to Dream.” Now that I can listen to her cover tunes in context with her other songs, I can truly understand and appreciate what she is doing. As the FdM releases are all limited editions that sell out quickly, I highly recommend that anyone interested should by all means get a copy of Sun Arise. This album is available both as a CD and a juicy slab of bright yellow vinyl in a gatefold sleeve.
Crystal Jacqueline – “Sun Arise”
New Underground Music
Crystal Jacqueline was in Wiltshire, England born and developed at an early age her talent and love for music.
She regularly performed in and around Bath, which her praise and a valuable experience constituted and later moved to the south of the country, where she played in several bands, which occurred at home and abroad.
She lives in Devon with her pig, cats, geese and her partner Icarus Peel, with whom she plays in the band The Honey Pot.
In 2010, she released her debut solo album "Heal Yourself" by Psyche Dandy Records and in 2012 released her first album, The Honey Pot, entitled "To The Edge Of The World" on the Mega Dodo label.
In November 2012 she recorded the EP "A Fairy Tale" by showing three covers: "Cousin Jane" (Troggs), "A Fairy Tale" (Second Hand), "Play With Fire" (Rolling Stones) by The Fruits Mer Records was released.
Her new LP called "Sun Arise" and in 2013 by the Mega Dodo Records label appeared on the market and contains 16 songs, including songs from the EP "A Fairy Tale".
The album starts with the title song "Sun Arise", which I hear a fantastic psychedelic pop song that has a nice hypnotic rhythm and blues has slight influences.
Then I hear "A Fairy Tale", which reminds me of the beginning of the song "I Can not Explain" by The Who and then turns into an excellent progressive pop rock song, followed by "Play With Fire" Crystal which lets me hear. delicious psychedelic version of this song
Also in "I Dream", I am told, which is played in tempo and reminds me here and there. To the music of Fleetwood Mac is a pretty amazing pop song
The next song is called "Who Do You Love?" Crystal and here let me enjoy a quiet psychedelic pop song, which is followed by "Alice", also a very beautiful quiet psychedelic pop song, which she manages to bring me. in a light trance
"Cousin Jane" is the third song from the EP "A Fairy Tale" and also get to hear this song to know Crystal. Fantastic own version.
In "Fly A Kite" I am told that I turn to move along an upbeat danceable melodic song (listen to it using the youtube link under the review) and "By The Way" lets Crystal me enjoy a psychedelic progressive folk song.
Then I hear "I Break", which played again in a calm pace and listen to a song is beautifully sung, and "Light Is Love" follows and is quietly begun here, but after a little over a minute and hear the rhythm changes I have a danceable pop song, which light disco influences can be heard.
Then Crystal dishes out to me the cover "Sundown" and again for giving them there own twist, then I "Somebody To Love", and also hear this cover gets a makeover.
With "Strange Bloom" she lets me enjoy a splendid light hypnotic pop song, "No Concern Of Mine" I get another doll lovely quiet to hear. Song
In the last song "Dream I Dream", a great pop song, is again a light hypnotic rhythm and it is therefore impossible for me here to sit still.
"Sun Arise" Crystal Jacqueline is filled with brilliant light psychedelic pop songs, I've enjoyed it to the fullest and I can recommend this LP wholeheartedly to anyone who loves this type of music.