Well, the melodies on Jewel's songs are always catchy, albeit OH so predictable. But what puts them over the top are usually the lyrics. She is in many ways the original John Mayer (or at least a more feminine version of him, assuming such a thing is possible), she tried to emulate Ricki Lee Jones early in her career and sometimes came up short. But like Mayer (to whom also the lyrics "habba labba dabba dadda doddley dip dap day" actually constitutes the bridge of a song) she has managed to find her niche. She is talented, yes, and so is Mayer, and although the majority of their music is dreck, occasionally there are moments of artistic brilliance among the mess that their full-length records tend to be. "Perfecly Clear" has a few more of those moments. Ricki Lee Jones she is not, but settling into a career that fits alongside the Norah Joneses of the world suits her quite nicely.
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