Grace

Jeff Buckley: “Grace” (Sony/Columbia)

Jeff Buckley is the son of the late great Tim Buckley, singer-songwriter and love troubadour of the late ’60s and very early ’70s. It may seem unfair but what Jeff Buckley has to prove to the discerning fan is that, judged purely on the quality of his own music, he merits all the attention he is currently in receipt of.

Grace is very much a fledgling release. It wears its inexperience on its sleeve but the good news is that it probably reveals enough to suggest that Mr Buckley Jnr. is determined to carve out his own individual niche in rock history and certainly that Jeff Buckley has the ability to improve on the potential he shows here.

One problem is the manner in which good ideas are sometimes given too much leeway to roam and wander wherever they will. ‘Mojo Pin’ and ‘Grace’ composed with ex-Beefheartian Gary Lucas, start off very well but somewhere along their circular structure they lose their way a little. Likewise, ‘So Real’ which is meant to be passionately personalised but seems instead to skirt over the real emotional issues.

These are all good songs, with the bones of great songs running through them, but they fail to penetrate to the marrow of their content. Another of the stand-out tracks, ‘Lover, You Should’ve Come Over’ which, like ‘So Real’, ironically happens to be one of the numbers on which Jeff sounds most like his father, is not quite the classic that it might be, though it comes very, very close indeed.

Through his singing style, Jeff Buckley determines to recreate a kind of uninhibited, naked emotionalism. His vocals are a sort of stylised, highly technical primal scream therapy.

The aesthetic behind this is that which asserts that musical sounds carry a more profound meaning beyond language.

However, to take this methodology to its logical conclusion would require lyrics and verse-chorus-verse song structures to be abandoned altogether. Buckley doesn’t quite go that far with the consequence that at times he finds himself caught between the devil of quite ordinary lyrics and the deep blue sea of wild intonation.

Ironically, it’s on something like ‘Last Goodbye’, where he tones down his vocal experimentations and sings in a more conventional manner, that he achieves the kind of pathos and meaning which seems to elude so many of the other numbers.

Of the three cover versions Leonard Cohen’s ‘Hallelujah’, with those beautiful extra verses, works best. The version of ‘Lilac Wine’ is so near to Nina Simone’s interpretation that it sounds as though Buckley is trying to pull off a respectful imitation of the inimitable Nina. However, Benjamin Britten’s ‘Corpus Christi Carol’ sounds largely irrelevant to the listener, whatever the personal reasons for its inclusion, which seem largely exhibitionist anyway to these ears, particularly since it’s followed immediately by a full out grunge melody ‘Eternal Life’.

On Grace, Jeff Buckley has attempted a series of extremely difficult musical juxtapositions and integrations. In truth, he isn’t wholly successful but his courage to experiment should be roundly lauded and applauded.

When his voice has more history and his lyrics more courage, then he may well become a great singer, maybe even excellent enough to handle all that he asks of his vocal chords. For the time being, though, we can enjoy Grace with one ear cocked to the potential it promises.

• Patrick Brennan