Jessica Campbell

Happy has found a home in Jessica Campbell. With every ringtone-like acoustic rhythm and dreamy vocal, Campbell creates a pleasing world in her new album Great Escape. Slightly reminiscent of a better-adjusted Taylor Swift (minus all the dragon slaying), Campbell has the ability to turn the sentence of your day from ellipsis to exclamation point.
This North Carolinian uses beautiful lyrical scenes to landscape her heart and any property damage that may come with it. Campbell’s cuddly vocals give even the bittersweet songs like “Me Without You” hope that everything could work out in the end. Most of her songs speak of love or have something to do with it, but she makes each song both sonically and thematically unique so that it fits right where it should on the album.
“Sleepy Yellow Ball” is among the ditty pop pleasers, in which Campbell blends storied verses with the nonchalance hook ability of Colbie Caillat. Campbell paints lovely storylines dripping in dreamy details of “velvet skies” and “postcard towns.” There is certainly no question as to her ability to create a palette of sunshine and color, even in her cloudier tunes.
Great Escape finds its most heartfelt moments between tracks 7 and 8, in which “I Stay, You Stay” highlights Campbell’s potential for incredibly intimate transparency. There is cohesiveness to the album, which makes it easy to push play and trust that all 10 tracks will keep you interested.
With this album, Jessica Campbell may find herself in a bit of no-woman’s land. She doesn’t necessarily have the power pop hooks that Top 40 has been rushing after lately, yet her musical optimism is catchier and more brilliant than most other singer-songwriters. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing; just a decision the sundress songstress may have to face for future albums. For now, though, she rests right where she wants to be in the cozy spectrum of pop pleasantries.
Campbell’s art is peppy, exciting and makes you want to dance in your seat as you drive to work, and her melodies are the kind that have proven their longevity in the past. - Brite Revolution