REVIEW: Jennifer Vena Wood -- The No Spoons Sessions

The No Spoons Sessions, the latest EP by Jennifer Vena Wood, is perfectly imperfect. This collection of gentle folk songs were recorded at home, while Wood recuperates from treatments for stage 4 non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma (she’s expected to make a full recovery.) These recordings illustrate Wood’s confidence as a performer — and her human limitations.

There are a few songs where you’ll hear Wood lose her breath or start over again. These recordings weren’t meant for public consumption, but Wood’s musicianship and lyricism stand on their own. The outtakes make the tracks feel much more real: with songs about finding oneself and falling even deeper into love, Wood’s mistakes allow for greater intimacy and vulnerability than a perfectly polished recording.

Wood’s focus on movement and travel feel especially poignant given the circumstances surrounding the recording when she certainly wasn’t feeling her best. “All The Best Reasons (A Tour of the Heart)” offers a carefully considered observation of nature as it reflects the narrator’s internal state. Wood might flub a lyric here or there, but her joy can’t be contained.

“Lonesome Sailor’s Lament” displays Wood’s skillful picking — and her mastery of the folk lexicon. This seemingly timeless song tells the eternal tale of pining for one’s loved ones. Yet in Wood’s hands, it’s not a dirge, but a statement of purpose: our narrator is determined to reach their loved one at all costs. We get the sense that they’ll get there.