Jeremy Enigk

Item: Return of the Frog Queen
Author: Kevin Flick

Return of the Frog Queen

(1996)

Reviewed by Kevin Flick

Discogs Bandcamp Apple Music TIDAL Spotify

Label Sub PopPuddlegum1998

art rock emo

Jeremy Enigk (pronounced ee-nik) was the lead singer/guitarist for Sunny Day Real Estate before his conversion to Christianity. He made it clear to the band that he wanted to sing about his new faith, and soon the members disbanded. Two of these members went on to play with the Foo Fighters, while Jeremy decided to record a solo project. Currently the band is working on new material, with the agreement that Jeremy can sing about his relationship with Jesus.

Return of the Frog Queen is an album of stark beauty. Not only does Jeremy sing (with his incredibly unique voice), he also plays acoustic guitar, bass, piano, harpsichord, harp, and drums. He then arranged (with the help of Mark Nichols) a 21-piece orchestra to back up his emotional melodies.

Jeremy's poetic lyrics are difficult to grasp at first. The words paint pictures that correlate with the mood of the melodies. Jeremy wanted to reach his audience with his new faith in words that they can understand.

This album is very innovative. Fallen Heart (the closing piece) opens with the orchestra tuning. Then it sounds as though a recorded track is played backwards. On top of this track is another track recorded normally. Strangely, they blend together without clashing.

Although Jeremy's music successfully evades being categorized, "psychedelic emo" is the best way that I could find to describe it. If you are drawn to true originality, then you will enjoy this jewel. I find it very soothing.