Jem
Finally Woken (ATO)
by Marc Hirsh

originally published in Space City Rock, Winter 2005

You would be fully within your rights the first time you heard Jem – most likely either the jaunty “Wish I” on a commercial for Song Airlines, the vaguely sinister “Come On Closer” in literal-minded ads for Mike Nichols’s Closer or the radio-ready “They,” with its choir hook seemingly sampled from Hogwarts Wishes You A Magical, Madrigal Christmas – to presume that you were listening to Dido. After all, both surname-dropping, slightly-peculiar-first-name-having singers offer the same sort of breathy, mildly (if pleasantly) dopey sensitiva-with-a-drum-loop trip-pop rush. There are a couple of differences between the two, though. For one thing, Jem’s a brunette. And, as borne out by her last name, “Griffiths,” she’s Welsh.

And that’s all I’ve got. Enjoy.

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