Faith Healer
Cosmic Troubles
Release Date: Mar 31, 2015
Genre(s): Pop/Rock, Alternative/Indie Rock, Indie Pop, Neo-Psychedelia
Record label: Mint
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Album Review: Cosmic Troubles by Faith Healer
Great, Based on 4 Critics
Based on rating 8/10
Cosmic Troubles, the second solo album to arrive from Jessica Jalbert and first under her new moniker Faith Healer, is an appropriate title. Some of the garage numbers, such as "Acid," "Again" and "Until the World Lets Me Go" could almost come across as breezy '70s psych send-offs until one examines the lyrics, which touch upon themes such as relationships and the afterlife in a dark, almost caustic manner. Cosmic Troubles, indeed.Jalbert's songwriting evokes the best of late '60s and early '70s psych-pop, and thanks to the production work of labelmate and close collaborator Renny Wilson, the album succeeds at constructing a dazzling sonic space.
Based on rating 7.4/10
On 2011’s Brother Loyola, Jessica Jalbert asserted that "I’m not the records that I own, and I’m not the things I’m good at." That those points needed making says plenty about the Edmonton songwriter, who’s since refined her '60s-styled indie-pop under the Faith Healer alias. Jalbert, who seems both assured and self-scrutinizing, sidelines in the kind of record-collecting, plainclothes punk bands who covet the Troggs over the Pistols, which frees up her solo work to dive into her daydreamy subconscious. On Cosmic Troubles, her second solo album, she shares private epiphanies and stares at her bedroom ceiling as the universe unravels.
Based on rating 7/10
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada's Jessica Jalbert used to be a solo artist, turning out pleasantly pastoral indie folk. A change of direction caused a name change and now she's Faith Healer, playing a brand of relaxed and woodsy neo-psych pop. With the help of friend and producer Renny Wilson, her debut album, Cosmic Troubles, sounds homemade in the best ways, small-scale and human, while still bursting with good ideas.
Opinion: Excellent
Back in 2012, I stumbled across Jessica Jalbert's exceptional mellow gem Lack Of A Lake, from an under-the-radar 2011 album called Brother Loyola. There wasn't much to be found online, so I waited for more and then slowly forgot about the Edmonton musician. Earlier this year, rumblings started about a new project called Faith Healer, and Jalbert's breezy murmur was immediately recognizable on opening song Acid from this debut album.
'Cosmic Troubles'
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