George 05 (South Africa) - Johannesburg 07 (South Africa)
"One of the greatest achievements we've had as a band is to have the honour of being associated with such a great man for so long. We feel privileged once again to extend our message of 'peace and love’… towards this most important cause." (Ard Matthews / lead singer Just Jinjer)
Just Jinjer return to the South African recording scene with an album of such elegance and accomplishment that yet again this longstanding group sets the benchmark for melodic rock of the most affecting kind.
The self-titled album from JJ is also the first full-length recording undertaken by the group from their American home base, and it’s also the bands first with a slightly different name. Ask lead singer, guitarist and songwriter-in-chief, Art Matthews why the change and he says simply: “In America especially, the word ‘Jinger’ gets pronounced ‘Gee-nger’ which sounds like singer and so we decided that there will be a new spelling to go with the new album. It’s as simple as that.”
That Just Jinjer has ambitions to make it huge on the global music scene, starting with America, has never been a secret. Says Matthews, “When you reach the stage that we did in South Africa, you have to look to where a bigger rock fan base is to take your career to a higher level. It’s the same for Australians and any group playing the kind of music that we do.”
Matthews is the first to admit that relocating first to London and then, in 2002, to Los Angeles has not been easy. A development deal with Capitol that Matthews had secured for the band went south (“the reason is still unknown,” the singer says), and the band had to resist the pull to simply move back home where two albums recorded after the relocation, ‘Strange World’ and ‘Bootleg Album’, had remained extremely strong calling cards for JJ on its home turf.
But Matthews, always supported by drummer, Brent Harris and bassist, Denholm Harding, has never doubted his band’s capabilities – after all JJ remain the single most successful South African rock group of the past decade. Since forming in 1996, and from the instant ‘All Comes Round’ introduced Matthews’ set of simply superb songs to rock fans around the country, JJ has been the gold standard in homegrown rock music. That debut album became the best-selling rock album in South African history and its follow-up, 1998’s ‘Something For Now’, reached gold in a short three weeks, moving to platinum status (50 000 units sold) shortly afterwards. A third studio album, 1999’s ‘Here’s To You’ (a nod to the group’s extensive fan base) was similarly a critical and commercial success.
In-between their albums, Just Jinjer became one of the hottest touring acts, playing extensively in South Africa and beyond its borders with the likes of U2, Crash Test Dummies, and Toto, co-headlining with Hootie and the Blowfish, Skunk Anansie, Stevie Wonder, Spice Girls, Chaka Khan and many more.
And, as the group’s recent trip to South Africa proved, Just Jinjer remains a compelling live force. Says Harding, “The historic annual ‘Dunes’ gig in Hout Bay was the windiest it's been in six years but we still had people packed in like sardines. It’s always a treat playing to our South African fans.”
Listen to ‘Just Jinjer’ and it’s a cinch to see that what also hasn’t changed in the years that Matthews and co have been in the States is his impeccable songwriting. Lead radio single, ‘what He means’ is the best starting point for this – it’s a song of incandescent beauty that manages to make a plea for “peace, love, more tolerance” sincerely and with all the passion of a true believer (the band’s new website – www.justjinger.com – has a link to the Campaign To Make Poverty History).
What has changed, as ‘Just Jinjer’ reveals, is the production.
For loyal JJ fans, even the familiar songs on ‘Just Jinjer’ will sound refreshingly different. Whether it’s the great washes of guitar that support ‘Here’s To You’ or the way the new version of ‘Home’ (one of Matthews’ best-ever compositions) takes it into soaring melodic rock terrain or the sparse production that underpins ‘Take Me There’, there’s a new beauty to Matthews’ timeless songs. And the sublime version of ‘She Knows’ deserves to take its rightful place alongside the likes of Coldplay’s best songs on the global music stage.
Just Jinjer’s new set of songs are similarly beautifully unmasked by Sandy Chila’s intuitive production work.
From the evocative notes that herald ‘Shine On You’ or the keyboard-infused ‘Steady’, Just Jinjer’s trademark power-rock sound has new life that plants the group in the current music scene with ease. If you’re looking for just how far JJ has moved on from its early days, listen to ‘Till I’m Done’, a stunning handclap-infused song that’s part prog-rock, part-ballad, or ‘Time Of Your Life’ which matches Matthews propulsive vocals with an electronic production tone that proves JJ can groove with the best of them.
That Chila has done such a masterful job on ‘Just Jinjer’ probably has much to do with the fact that he’s now a fully-fledged member of the group. Says Matthews, “As our producer and guitarist and keyboardist, Sandy has brought a sound to Just Jinjer that’s unlike anything our fans have heard before.”
Indeed. It’s this fresh sound fleshing out Matthews’ peerless songwriting that earned Just Jinjer a new deal with SonyBMG Entertainment Africa. Says Spiro Damaskinos, JJ’s Label Manager: “We are very excited at the prospect of working with Just Jinjer again - it’s good to have them back within the (Sony) BMG stable, it’s where they started, it’s where they are welcome. The fact remains that Just Jinjer are still one of South Africa’s finest rock bands and they just keep getting better with time which shows in the quality of record they’ve delivered.”
For Matthews, coming full circle, back to Just Jinjer’s original recording home, is the way it was always meant to be. “We have now been around a full decade and we owe much of our early success to the team at (then) BMG Africa. Ten years later we have moved on as a band and BMG is now SonyBMG but I do believe that the ingredients that made our first recordings the success that they were are still there – we have the songs, the sound, the committed musicians and a record company with passion. We have just released the album in the USA. All I can say is that it’s going to be an amazing 2007 for us.”
