Recorded live (main tracking) in Jones’ Oxford terrace with a band of bass, drums, electric guitar and Jones’ own acoustic guitar and straight-forward piano, Fire-lives sparkles with raw spirit and power in a thoughtfully combined set of heartening songs, sometimes buoyant and winsome, at other times slow-burning and dark. Further additions of brass, layered vocals with rich harmonies, cello and percussion result in a lush, distinctive and beautiful album, reminiscent at times of Mumford & Sons folkish energy, and at others of Plant & Krauss’ Raising Sand with its spacey, gritty guitar sounds, percussive-drum treatments, and sweet melodies.

Poetic, earthy and personal lyrics have always been a feature of Jones’ writing, but Fire-lives takes several leaps forward on the imagery front, and in Jones’ own words, in creativity of content:

“Many of the songs on the album were inspired by the experiences of people around me instead of my own, and the boundaries of my usual songwriting format have been given a healthy stretch in some places. I’ve explored alternate tunings as well as a depth of musical hooks. ”
.
The majority of the songs on the album began as part of Jones’ Solitary Songs, a project for which she wrote and recorded a song a month and made them available for download; intent on expanding her attention to fundamental musical detail through the project, her arrangements were restricted to voice and guitar. The Solitary Songs experienced a degree of reimagining to become the full-band versions on the album.