The Lighthouse. Tessa Rose Jackson

Search for Tessa Rose Jackson on this blog and you will only find reviews by Erwin Zijleman. From her debut album in 2013 'Song From The Sandbox', to three albums under the name Someone. There's one exception, my review of a live show at the Waterpop festival in 2013. In 2026 she returns with an album under her own name, 'The Lighthouse'. And here I am.

I came late to Someone. At first I did not hear it, until I took home a copy of the album 'Shapeshifter' that someone had parted with in a free cd library somewhere. I felt it was time to give this album a serious chance and was rewarded. The album went down better after a few listening sessions. The consequence was that I was interested straight away when I read there was a new album out under her own name.

Why Tessa Rose Jackson decided to confuse everyone once again by using her own name for this record, I can't tell you. What I can tell you, is that The Lighthouse is a mostly quiet album that invites its listeners to start listening and forget about all else for a short while. On the album she presents songs somewhere between folk and indiepop. She clearly is enjoying being a singer-songwriter but also to rock mildly, like in 'Build To Collide'. Although the acoustic guitar is the instrument pushed most forward in the mix, the drummer keeps a tight pace and an electric guitar plays nice accents.

Well into her second decade as an artist, Tessa Rose Jackson has become a grown woman and it shows. The Lighthouse is a mature album. This artist knows exactly what she wants to present and how she wants to sound. There is no room left for doubt. Perhaps this is the reason that she left the anonymously sounding Someone behind. She is Tessa Rose Jackson and no longer just "someone".

With her new album, she positions herself in a long line of female singer-songwriters from Joni Mitchel and Sandy Denny to more modern folk singers like Liz Overs and others from the U.K. folk scene. It is a position that suites her very well. With The Lighthouse Jackson shows herself from a very vulnerable position. Several songs on the album are so delicate, that treating them too rough would mean they'd brake. A few exceptions aside, The Lighthouse presents a full listening experience. An album to merge with on a cold evening with the heater on, headphones on the head and enjoying every small detail in the songs. And there are many to explore and hear.

With The Lighthouse Tessa Rose Jackson sets another, very convincing step in her career. The Lighthouse is not so much earth-shattering. For that it sounds far too modest. The album is sheer beauty and should be treated as such, reverently with the full attention beauty deserves.

Wout de Natris - van der Borght

 

You can listen to and order The Lighthouse here:

https://tessarosejackson.bandcamp.com/album/the-lighthouse