Jeanicelee - 'Back In Our Cage'

There is a radio edit but you’ll want to buy or stream the ‘proper’ 5-minute version of the song to get the full benefit of this multi-faceted mini-masterpiece. The song is a co-write by Jeanice and her partner, Marco Morelli, and it is guitarist Marco who introduces the song, seeming to move through about three different riff-phases before the vocals start, just short of 1 minute in. By this time, you’ll also be aware of the introduction of subtle symphonic orchestration in the background – something of a new development and it really augments the sound in a pleasing way.

Jeanice was a comparatively late-starter in music, but she’s already developed her own very distinctive and endearing style in both song-writing and vocal delivery. There is plenty going on lyrically and the main underlying theme on this song seems to be the environmental crossroads. It is emphatically delivered by a quite polished vocal performance from Jeanice, most demonstrably at the end of the first verse where she holds the last note on ‘deranged dominoes’ (definitely my favourite kind!) with authority. 

The eagle-eyed may have spotted that the ‘artist’ name has changed from ‘Jeanice Lee’ to ‘Jeanicelee’, reflecting the importance of the band dynamic. As mentioned, Marco has been an important part of Jeanice’s music career from the outset and the Hodge boys have also become integral to the process. Tony Hodge’s powerful drumming stands out throughout and original member, Leen Hodge, plays some particularly lush bass lines, notably on the chorus.

There is plenty of drama in the song. Once Jeanice has delivered the ‘Get Back in Your Cage’ punchline, there is a delicious twin-guitar break before they wrap it up with a further repeat of the chorus. At this point, you’ll probably want to press ‘repeat’ to enjoy the song all over again and take a deeper dive into the underlying narrative and musical plot-line.

As an appetizer, it has certainly given me a taste for the album and I will look forward to hearing the full-thing, as there’s definitely something just a bit different about this band which keeps things interesting

The launch gig has been set for Saturday 7th May 2022 at Legends, Edinburgh. Rockfiend will be there and there’s also an intriguing under-card with Edinburgh’s ‘As Above’ and also the ‘prog, but with songs’ band ‘EBB’ who supported Hawkwind at The London Palladium last year and have a quite fascinating back-story.