Artist: Steve & Ginie Jackson
Album: Colder Than The Sea
Single: 7 Billion People
Montreal acoustic folk duo, Steve & Ginie Jackson have released their newest album, Colder Than The Sea. A music video for their feature single “7 Billion People” is available on YouTube.
Steve and Ginie are a couple who met during a joint concert of their respective previous bands. According to the couple, “they started to dream about traveling and playing music, and they fell in love.”
Colder Than The Sea was created in Steve and Ginie’s home during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Their music has folk pop, bluegrass, and Irish/traditional influences, but Colder Than The Sea is “more mature, more thoughtful, with new compositions that allows them to grow as musicians.”
Colder Than The Sea is comprised of twelve tracks: Into The Wild; 7 Billion People; Tear My Voice; Time To Dine; Everybody’s Calling; Karma; Happy; Take Me To The Bottle (featuring Jake Quell Bordel); Help Me!; The Hook; Fire Is Out; and Hearts.
The single “7 Billion People” is a love song about how the couple realized during lockdown that they don’t need anyone else to be happy—it’s the story of how they helped each other to grow and become better humans. The single follows the duo’s usual style—a guitar, a mandolin, and two voices, inspired by folk pop, bluegrass, and Irish/Trad influences. Their sound is reminiscent of Mumford and Sons or Peter, Paul, and Mary.
The lyrics are also extremely cute. The main line of the chorus goes, “seven billion people and all I see is you.” Another portion of the song has the lyrics, “I used to be a mess, I never really cared, I was never at my best, I was never really there, […] before I met you, babe.” So sweet, and something I among many people can surely relate to in their own relationships.
The music video for “7 Billion People” was shot in San Diego, California was filmed, edited, and directed by Jeremy Royer. The video features Steve and Ginie gazing into each others’ eyes while singing and playing their instruments in various stunning locations. The scenes of the ocean and San Diego skyline are certainly beautiful, but Steve and Ginie steal the show with their cuteness. The video pairs so well with the context of the sweet song.
The rest of the album sounds similar to the single—pretty standard folk music. Although the sound is nothing revolutionary, the duo’s voices pair so well together and the lyrics are pure poetry. Most of the tracks are upbeat and catchy, but “Hearts”, “Karma” and “Tear My Voice” are slower, more painful songs. “Into The Wild” is definitely my favourite song of the album, with lyrics like, “You hate those bedtime stories/They always make you feel like you’re dying/But mostly, you hate the mornings/And everyone you’ll meet again today […] Don’t tell me that you finally ran away into the night.”
Overall, I enjoyed Colder Than The Sea, and you can check out Steve & Ginie Jackson on Instagram and Facebook.