Jen Dixon – Over You Review

With a hard drive stuffed full of new albums, unreleased feature films and a scattershot of press releases, it is hard to keep up with all the new findings, emails and offers. That is the task at hand, and everything gets lost. It is inevitable. One such item to find its way into one of many now-lost memory sticks was the press release for Jen Dixon and her latest track, Over You. This latest song from Dixon does not need a press release though, everything she could have hoped to chart or say is right there on this new offering. Acoustic charms, those sliding sensibilities and the bursts of shock that come through a neatly pieced track.  

Straight-shooting charm moulded into a sudden switch-up that displays Dixon is not just another folk hero, but an identifiable, unique voice. Over You makes space for a spoken word interlude, its pace and arrangement bridging Dixon toward hip-hop and far removed from the folk studies of the preceding minute. It is a natural shift, a bold risk to take on a track promoting an as-yet-released extended play. But that is the risk every musician should take. Dixon is one of the few who is continually pushing through as bold and courageous in the face of a genre that has comfort for those many that need it. They do it well, but Dixon charges on with a keen spirit and essential style. That should be no surprise to those that have tuned in before.  

For those newcomers then, Over You is a delightful arrangement from one of the many inevitable northeast stars. Charming, powerful and crucially confident, Dixon has paired that trio well and it makes for an incredible single. There are enough twists to define her music as truly special, enough maintained to make for a homely feel. Blurring those two feelings, the shifting tone of the lyrics, and the desperation of justifying moving on to whatever lies ahead, gives Over You that integral, personal touch. Relatability to tracks is often easy when you have a bottleneck slide and a broken heart, but Dixon has no time for just that fundamental. Each and every track she has out there so far has tried its absolute best to move on the message, to pull that meaning close and expand it. Over You is no exception to that dedication.  

Regardless of the intention or meaning of Over You though, Dixon has achieved her ambitious goal. She has maintained a Teesside charm that flows over a telling single from her Less Than A Feeling EP. Where that EP is nowhere close to release just yet, frustrated listeners and those clamouring for more can get themselves a shot of Over You, a track that cements its indie folk charms and claims them as a delicate, shifting piece. A considered longing weighs heavy on those vocal powers as the instrumentals flourish, backed nicely by gospel-like vocalists chiming in with their own slice of worthy inclusion. Over You nails that goal of coaxing new listeners in and maintaining the longstanding relationship Dixon already has with returning fans.