Terrorbird

When you hear Jessie Baylin sing for the first time, it takes a matter of moments to realize that she’s intimately familiar with pop’s history – but not at all interested in repeating it. Her songs – and her plangent voice – carry a classic pop tone that evoke memories of the Brill Building and Laurel Canyon in the ‘70s while retaining a decidedly modern, empowered worldview.

Rather than go with the flow, she went with her gut, gathering what remained of an inheritance from her grandmother – whose nickname Jessie borrowed for the Blonde Rat label moniker – Jessie hired Producer Kevin Augunas, who helped her gather some of the most empathetic musicians she could find, including old-school guitar man Waddy Wachtel, veteran drummer Jim Keltner, Greg Leisz on pedal steel, The

Watson Twins on backup vocals and famed Emmy & Grammy winning string arranger Jimmie Haskell (Elvis Presley, Simon & Garfunkel, Bobby Gentry).  But it was modern-day auteur and multi-instrumentalist Richard Swift who was Little Spark's chief arranger and with Swift, Kevin, and the musicians in place, Jessie found her creative collaborators and co-conspirators.

Baylin’s ability to listen is palpable throughout Little Spark, in her mellifluous phrasing, the gentle twang that’s crept into her voice in recent years. But even more tangible is her ability to feel – and make her listeners feel. Listen to a song like “Joy Is Suspicious” – a starkly vulnerable self-assessment about learning to love against some pretty strong odds – and try to remain unmoved.