Jen Mize releases Double Talk featuring the Rough n’ Tumble
By Alan Shipston for Country Music News International Magazine
Jen Mize has released her new single, Double Talk, a Stones-ish influenced song that moans and growls like a 70’s rocker. A single swampy electric guitar pounds out the angular chords in the intro, which is panned entirely to the left, until Jen enters front and center with her sultry vocal swagger. The story is a cautionary tale of a father giving sage advice to not live the life he chose, to not date men like him and to avoid the inevitable double talk at all costs. As a B3 swirls through the verses and electric guitar double stops fill the holes, the strident rhythm section holds down the rest of the powerful track with a formidable dominance. But the real attention is on Mize’s vocal presence pulling you in with her lusty lyrics,
When I was seventeen
My daddy sat me down
He told me all about his looser days
When he was just running round
Before he met my mama
And settled down
He was something of a ladies’ man
He had girls all over town
When talking about how Double Talk came into the world Jen offered this, “They say write what you know and you don’t have to have a good memory if you never tell a lie. I really feel like when I’m doing that, lyrics and melodies pour out of me at a furious speed that I can barely keep up with. After writing the verse and chorus of this one, I felt it was time to open it up to the fellas in the band for a possible cowrite so, into the Dropbox folder it went in hopes that someone would bite.” After hearing Jen’s initial draft of Double Talk, Jeremy Edwards wanted in. “Maybe it was the killer chorus melody. Maybe I wanted a chance, now as the father of a teenage lad, to lay a few things out clear and straight for my son.” The second verse flips the narrative to a male perspective as Jeremy takes over the vocal until Jen joins back in singing together full tilt.
It has been said that Jen Mize is one of Australia’s best-kept secrets in songwriting. The Boston Conservatory trained singer & multi-instrumentalist has found continued success on AMRAP, ABC’s Edge of Country, Saturday Night Country and other media outlets. No stranger to live work, she has played the Tamworth Country Music Festival and a full slate of bookings with her band. Double Talk, the latest single from Jen Mize & The Rough n’ Tumble, released on January 14, has radio support and is getting rotation in the charts. This is a record that will capture your heart and turn you into a fan after a single listen.