There are some singers and songwriters who receive little recognition because all the attention is on the singers that are hot on the charts, such as Taylor Swift and One Direction. Jessie James Decker is a singer and songwriter, best known for her reality TV show Eric and Jessie with husband Eric Decker, who plays for the New York Jets. Jessie James Decker recently came out with an Extended Play Comin Home on April 18, 2014, five years after the release of her debut album, which has helped to boost her popularity as an artist aside from the reality TV show. The EP climbed to number one on itunes country charts and sold 11,000 digital copies in the first three days.
In 2009, prior to the release of Comin Home, James Decker’s hit “Wanted” reached number 23 on Pop Songs and number 40 on the Billboard 100. Starting off in the Pop genre jump started James Decker’s music career, but more recently she has been appearing on country charts. Her song “I Do,” which is about marrying her husband, peaked at number 39 on Hot Country Songs in November 2013.
Jessie James Decker has six songs on this EP that she either wrote or co-wrote. The songs are meaningful to James Decker because as an independent artist, it is often hard to be recognized and to see success because she is not part of a well-known label such as Hollywood Records or Columbia Records. “Girls Night,” which starts off the EP, is an upbeat country song about having fun with friends. “Comin Home” is written about her husband Eric, and the song is clearly a love ballad with the lyrics, “ I’m comin home, gonna give you what you want/ cause I need your love, I don’t wanna be alone/ I’m gonna fly to you, Just like I always do”. Jessie James Decker’s voice gets up to a high soprano, and along with the guitar makes the song overall very well put together.
“Rain On The Roof Of This Car” is about first love during the summer when James Decker was sixteen. The lyrics to the song explain that everything is new when girls are sixteen years old. The violin and guitar make the song sound haunting, and the theme of first love is reminiscent of the early Taylor Swift with her song “Tim McGraw.”
“Diary” and “Breaking Your Heart” both start off with only violins playing, then the drums, guitars, and bass come in later. Both songs go together because the words in “Diary” foreshadow what is to come in “Breaking Your Heart.” The listener can put two and two together, as James- Decker cannot trust the boy in “Diary” because she was hurt by a past love in “Breaking Your Heart”.
To finish off this mini album, Jessie James Decker concludes with a meaningful song, “Mama Wrote You a Lullaby”. James Decker is a mother for the first time to a daughter named Vivianne Rose, and as a musician it seems appropriate to write her daughter a lullaby to put her to sleep. It is a very maternal sounding, peaceful acoustic.
Not many singers can jump from genre to genre, but Jessie James Decker proves her versatility when it comes to music, transitioning from pop to country. After listening to this EP, there is no doubt that fans will have it on replay for hours on end.
