A self-professed ‘singer-songwriter’ album, the sophomore album from Jo Potter arrives as a complete and unrelenting musical testament to her character as an artist. It’s an album of person triumph, honest reflection, and universal appeal, and one that certainly doesn’t shy from a fight.
An album produced by Jo herself, one of the greatest triumphs arrived in the songs where she could see how much she had grown as an artist; molding the clever, universal lyrics and strong hooks of her debut album with a more reflective and emotive maturity. Shaping her new songs from her insights and experiences, ‘Saved’ is an open letter built on the ashes of old relationships and memories, a musical path through which she can let herself be vulnerable and express all the thoughts and feelings that she has inside.
Opening with some dense nostalgic, and wonderfully relatable vibes, ‘Saved’ has as warmth the most artist yearn to achieve. It’s a sense brought to vivid life by Jo’s vocal talents and organic instrumentation; two distinct musical threads that weave a beautiful sound. Tracks such as ‘Good’ and ‘In Time’ show this joining of sounds perfectly, arching and soaring, mingling and settling, letting their full emotional weight be felt. Further afield, tracks such as ‘When Things Go Wrong’ arrive with a relentless passion, churning out deft melodies and wandering, smooth instrumentation that seems to form the basis of her sound.
Potentially saving the best for last, the final cuts of ‘And Again’ and the acoustic version of ‘So Beautiful’ are mesmerising, delivering two swift and final blows of musical strength. They’re raw, cut back, reminiscent of her live shows and wonderfully organic in nature.
A well-balanced collection of songs, ‘Saved’ manages to capture both raw, emotional, and deeply passionate power and smoother, more melodic sounds, mixing the two together to form a unified vision. It’s an album that works well with Jo’s blossoming talents, and one that strongly shows how far she has come with her musical talents.
Score: 8/10
