Annabel Jones - New Waves

First there was Lady and the Lost Boys, and then there was Bluebell, now Annabel Jones, the front woman of both acts is, well, just Annabel Jones. There’s no Lorde, Lana Del Rey or other pseudonym  going on here, just the real person and rather like Normal Heights the debut tune from Bluebell that stopped us in our tracks and made us shudder a little back in April 2011, so Magnetic does the same. It’s a bit strange putting Annabel in our introducing ‘New Waves’ section as she’s already appeared on the blog before, but as this isn’t Bluebell and marks a new start it seems mildly appropriate to do so at least.

Starting with the sounds of a wind up music box, computerised patterns then take over pitter-pattering underneath some pretty heavy lyrics in this fascinating song. “Baby I gotta let go, the drugs that you’ve taken are killing you so,” Annabel sings, her voice pitch shifting towards the end. “What if I could save you now, what if I get lost again?” she questions later. Yet despite the seriousness of the lyrics and the weird minimalism and lack of any beats in the track, with its oddly hooky melodies this is still pop. Not the sort of the pop that will find itself in the singles chart perhaps, but the sort of weird, intriguing pop with depth that draws the listener in demanding you to press repeat over and over.

Annabel Jones - Magnetic

Bluebell - Cinderella

Sadly ex Lady & The Lost Boys singer and musical starlet in the waiting Annabel Jones recently lost her father Davy, lead singer of The Monkees. Annabel left these simple touching words on her facebook page following his death.

“Some of you may or may not know that on Wednesday last week I lost my Father. My family and I have been overwhelmed by the love and support of everyone who has reached out to tell us that we're not alone. Thank you for helping to make me feel less lost and bottomless, knowing you are all dotted around the Earth makes life less frightening and like if we all reached out we could hold hands and make a chain all the way around the planet. Dad and I connected mostly over music, song writing and performance, that's where we understood each other. The hours I spent sitting amongst you all watching him perform are honestly some of my most precious and treasured moments. Everything was so simple while he was up there, I felt proud and close and I understood him there, as I know you all did.”

Now Annabel continues that bond she had with her father through her pop project Bluebell and this new song called Cinderella. Whilst Normal Heights her debut was a romantic slow pulsing pop symphony, Cinderella sounds a little more highly strung (in a good way). “This is no Walt Disney, I’m not Cinderella, I’m just a girl,” sings Annabel with just a faint hint of Marina & The Diamonds operatics whilst waves of distorted beats, one note piano stabs and washes of electronics keep our pop palette satiated. Good stuff.

Bluebell - Cinderella (You Tube Stream)

Bluebell - New Waves

Annabel Jones aka Bluebell is a new songstress that we’ve become pretty enamoured with over the last few days, all because of a song called Normal Heights – a classy piece of heartfelt rhythmic keyboard based pop music. If Annabel’s name or voice seems familiar then there are reasons for this. The 22 year old is the youngest of four daughters of Davy Jones, lead singer of 60’s manufactured TV show group The Monkees. She was also the lead singer of Lady and the Lost Boys who in their time played gigs with the likes of The Walkmen, King Charles, Broadcast 2000 and James Yuill before they split.

Having spent some time in Los Angeles, Annabel is now back in the UK and is just starting to get her new solo material out there, although to be strictly correct we should note that there may be a second half of Bluebell – some sort of mysterious co-writer. Normal Heights is Bluebell's first song to be placed on line for the blogging masses to devour if they so wish. We’re delighted to eat this one up, as well as the pieced together video which streams below, full of nostalgic holiday footage, swimwear and d-i-y camera work that combines well as the song gradually builds to a lushly orchestrated synthy build. Good stuff. Bluebell currently has one live show confirmed at the Underbelly, Hoxton, London on June 7 and no doubt more material and gigs will surface in due course.

Normal Heights by BLUEBELL