“...but the true stunner is McDell’s unforced voice” - Rolling Stone
“The New Zealander enchants with airy vocals and confessional lyrics” - Billboard
“McDell’s voice carries such weight with you feeling every poignant word...honestly, she’s a modern-day Stevie Nicks” - New Music Collection
"exuberant piece of classic alt-country .." - Rolling Stone Australia
“Showcasing more richness and density than the typical banjo and fiddle exercise, the album contains waves of haunting tremolo guitar, fuzzy squalls, heavy distortion and a keen sense for crafting rewarding, sometimes even dramatic, vocal melodies.” - All Music
“....raw confessionals, breezy anthems and plaintive storytelling rooted in the tradition of old school country and folk balladeers.” - Wide Open Country
LISTEN TO “NOT READY YET” : HERE
Critically acclaimed singer/songwriter, Jamie McDell, has released her heartfelt new single “Not Ready Yet”, today via ABC Music. “Not Ready Yet”, produced by Nash Chambers, is a precursor to Jamie’s upcoming self-titled album, set to drop on February 25, 2022 via ABC Music which is available for pre-order HERE.
Discussing the sentiment behind the song, Jamie said, “I’ve always wanted to create a groove reminiscent of the 90s The Chicks, and I’m hoping this comes close. I had mumbled the falsetto chorus melody into my voice memos before jumping into a session with my producer Nash and Phil Barton. The lyrics came from a place of comfort in not knowing what’s next for me and taking my time to figure it out. Motherhood is something I want in the future, something that I’m really looking forward to if I’m to be so lucky. But I’m not ready yet and maybe, in today's world, that is all I should need to say.”
With a video for the single still in the works, Jamie and her partner created this breezy, carefree lyric video. Jamie says, “The Auckland lockdown meant I wasn't able to work with the director I'd planned to. My partner and I were lucky to be located at Pauanui Beach at the time, where we've spent nearly every summer for the past decade. We decided we could make some visuals out of the hike we do up the local mountain often. I've had many deep thoughts on this beautiful trail and it felt like it connected to the sentiment of the song, just reveling in every stage of the journey to who knows where.” View HERE.
McDell’s fourth studio album was recorded in Nashville, the gifted singer-songwriter teaming up with Nash Chambers in his eastside studio and drawing on the amazing musical talents of Dan Dugmore, Jedd Hughes, Dennis Crouch, Shawn Fichter, Jerry Roe, Jimmy Wallace, Tony Lucido, and Ross Holmes, along with guests such as the McCrary Sisters, Robert Ellis, Erin Rae and Tom Busby (Busby Marou). This new long-player contains Jamie’s most brutally honest moments, in both writing and performance, while the musicians and production take you on a modern journey through 70s folk and country, blended with a healthy dose of roots and rock.
Born in New Zealand, at the age of 7 McDell’s father left his job at an Auckland law firm to shift her mother, younger sister, and Jamie onto the high seas and began living aboard a yacht in the Mediterranean. It’s here Jamie wrote her first song, a sea shanty to the dolphins. Also on that yacht lived a small collection of her parents’ favorite cassette tapes, which luckily included albums by Jimmy Buffett, John Denver, and James Taylor. The young artist quickly formed a particularly strong bond with these records and she fondly remembers watching her parents perform Buffett duets - and occasionally chiming in, learning how to harmonise with her mother. An eager learner, Jamie then picked up the guitar after studying her fathers’ John Denver chord book collection and has never looked back.
Now at age 28, New Zealand singer/songwriter Jamie McDell has achieved a prolific amount in her formative years. Being signed to EMI at age 16 sparked the beginning of a successful musical journey, making her a household name across the nation. With the release of her debut album ‘Six Strings and a Sailboat’, she went on to achieve Gold album sales, receive three NZ Music Award nominations, winning Best Pop Album of 2013. Then her sophomore record ‘Ask Me Anything’ gained global attention, seeing album track ‘Moon Shines Red’ featured on American TV series Pretty Little Liars.
In March 2017 Jamie made a trip to Nashville, looking for a change of scenery and to connect with the environment that birthed much of the music throughout her youth. It’s here she wrote the songs that would make up the fabric for her third record “Extraordinary Girl”. She met with expat Australian producer Nash Chambers for coffee one day and decided they shared the same musical values. Not long after that meeting McDell arranged to fund her first independent record “Extraordinary Girl”, which was recorded over the space of two days later in 2017 at House of Blues studio in Nashville. She then returned home for the albums’ release, promotion, and supporting tours throughout New Zealand and Australia.
Then in early 2019 Jamie relocated to Toronto, Ontario for a new chapter and to be closer to Nashville. It’s here she found herself sitting on the floor of her tiny apartment, feeling overwhelmed and frustrated with a friend in a troubled relationship, and out came the powerful song, Botox. “It’s a story depicting the dangers of silencing our instincts and compromising our values, just because a significant other has you convinced that you need fixing,” Jamie says. This track would then fuel a new era of unapologetic honesty in McDell’s songwriting, and the release of The Botox EP.
After opening a US tour for Robert Ellis (Texas Piano Man) in early 2020, Jamie made her return to Nashville to begin working on this new studio album.
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