Pedro and Jenna Camille - This is What I’m Going Through

July 20, 2018 - WOLF Music

This is What I’m Going Through by Pedro and Jenna Camille is dreamy yet grounded jazz, like the infinity of a sky that was captured by painting clouds on the bedroom ceiling, or the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. The tracks on this EP are simultaneously celestial and earthy like the concept of human divinity. The sky only exists when looking up from the Earth. 

Pedro and Camille have artfully cracked conventional song structure open just enough to allow a few inches of space for discovery through musical expression. There are elements of free jazz, with quick-trodden airy chord changes, moments of freeform rhythm and whimsical percussive pacing. But the freedom is contained within just enough structure to keep this project approachable, even danceable. This duo has the experience and education to know when to break rules and when to follow them for maximum impact. 

This is What I’m Going Through encourages those who listen to daydream and move without thinking much about moving and experience the moment of the sound cacophony. We don’t ruminate much on the meaning of the words in Camille’s poetry but more on the sounds of the words themselves. The recording quality of her vocals captures the depth and richness of her spoken voice, and the effect invokes a visual of objects falling out of her mouth with every word, spreading a pile of treasures beneath her that command their own attention. 

I like that Pedro doesn’t try to restrict Camille with strong effects but allows her words to become objectified in the auditory space. Her vocals are minimal but perfectly placed. They command more attention on some tracks than others, but this shifting of weight along with the variety of the instrumental details feel like the magic of storytelling around a campfire where the light flickers across our faces. This collaboration is a playful project, and both artists are shining in the firelight. 

Listening to this project is like experiencing a performance with a beginning, middle and end. There is a narrative quality to the way the songs fit together, and their titles suggest theater as well. ‘Intro’ is a mood-setter, a poem with juicy words front and center which carry us to the headspace for feeling the rest of the EP like a master hypnotist. Even the lyrics speak this intent, starting with an expression of anxiety to an ode to music medicine. The undulating instruments create a sense of washing away down the stream that leads straight to ‘Float,’ where the water imagery is passed from instrumental to verbal as Camille repeats the word. We are suddenly bank-side.

My favorite track on the EP is ‘Keep It H 2000,’ and it’s not because the track title speaks to my love of puns. This song begins as a slow jam then grows to a steady climb dappled with breathy sound effects energetic drum tapping. Camille sings “If it don’t take struggle, it don’t make progress” over a steady shuffle, over and over again, like a mantra in an airy angelic upper register. Over the course of the song, the mood shifts and optimism builds behind her like triumph, and by the end we hear her voice and her message in time to the groove, even though she is no longer singing. 

This is What I’m Going Through is available for a spin via WOLF Music, something fresh for sore ears. ☔