Ordinary Girl presents Susie Keynes’ first recorded effort without Fruit bandmates Sam Lohs and Mel Watson since her 2002 solo album, Kiss For Her Fears. The indefinite break called by the trio in November 2006 found Keynes contentedly back in Adelaide and looking at a completely blank canvas after over ten years of writing, performing and recording with Fruit. The picture began to take shape with a few songs, and was completed with the recruitment of bassist CJ Rhodes and drummer Yanya Boston.
Now, after a decade-long collaboration with two equally-talented singer-songwriters, one could forgive Keynes for indulging a guilty pleasure and fanging out a poppy record about nothing much; like a girl who entertains the affections of every pretty idiot in designer denims after the break-up of a long love affair. Instead, Keynes and company have captured the vivacity of a new band and channelled it into a record becoming the individuals’ considerable experience. Yanya Boston, an award-winning drummer and percussionist, toured Australia with Human Nature and has completed numerous tours of Australia, the US and Europe with Fruit. It was following a Fruit gig in Nashville, Tennessee, that Boston introduced Keynes to Rhodes, there to attend bass master-classes with bass luminary Reggie Wooten.
The opening track, Another Way Home, steadily builds from lone guitar and vocal noodling to launch into a bombastic chorus and almost-histrionic vocals. Similarly, Arrow, a gentle nod to the 80s pop-rock of influences such as Chrissie Hynde, and the plaintive lament about reconciliation with Indigenous Australians, Sorry Song, demonstrate the exceptional range that belies Keynes’ diminutive stature. But it is Keynes’ superbly-crafted songwriting and the diversity of styles on the record that define it. The title track, Ordinary Girl, and Almost Lost My Way, offer more energised pop-rock with a live feel. And the contemplative slow-burner Cherish is counter-balanced by the cosy folk of Free and Peace.
Excellently complemented by Rhodes’ bass, Boston’s drums and percussion, and the additional instrumentation provided by Adam Page, Keynes’ sincere and intelligent lyrics emote on record as vividly as they do on stage. Certainly, this is no ordinary girl.
