Jilly Jones’s latest offering You Got Me Like/ You Thought has a distinctly calming mood about it. The artist’s leading voice lays soaked in reverb and rides softly alongside of the ambiance – her performance and its placement within the track bring a feeling of pop melody all at once.

Structurally the track evolves in a powerful way. Just as you think you know the system, the whole thing erupts into something new – the vibe changes after the first pause, exploding into something much more high energy, passionate, even chaotic. This again breaks down for the voicemail skit just after the center point of the song. Then the ambiance rises back up, then the flow changes a little, and you really start to focus on the lyrics from here on in. As is always the case, Jilly Jones’s work takes the form of a confident yet gradual builder, not providing anything other than the art of the moment, slowly but surely surrounding you in the story and the sentiment.

The song’s underlying sentiment focuses on the important things, the love and togetherness of this time of year, the things that really matter. There’s a lightness and joy to the song and these elements fuse well in not bringing about an overly colorful or attention seeking new seasonal offering. As the music moves along it’s almost possible to forget everything and listen to the track. Then when the hook comes into play, the sentiment is continued, but that touch of excitement works well alongside the caring ideas of the overall piece.

In an age of unlimited music and creativity, it’s a pleasure to stumble upon songs that exercise the simple or minimalist strength of pure expression. This track doesn’t arrive covered in glitter or magnified volume, it doesn’t shout to grab your attention, it warms you with a hopeful musical backdrop, and it grips you with a genuine and heartfelt presentation of poetry and character. I look forward to hearing more from Jilly Jones.

From a songwriting perspective it’s a really strong offering, it’s difficult to craft a song that lasts these days as the absolute classics are so set in stone in terms of nostalgia and familiarity and comfort. This song does well to break free of those pop restraints and I think a lot of people would appreciate the song, the performance, and the warmth of a well-written track.