Jenny Owen Youngs - “Dungeons and Dragons”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 8; Popularity Index: 8

Pairs Well With…Aldous Harding, Regina Spektor, Phoebe Bridgers

Now an indie folk veteran, Jenny Owen Youngs’ latest EP is Echo Mountain, a sparse collection of pretty, emotional ballads highlighting the Maine-based singer-songwriter’s intimate storytelling. Youngs adds ghostly atmospherics to an otherwise accompaniment of gentle piano and guitar, just enough to add some texture without distracting from her heart-forward performance. Youngs accomplishes full feelings with a whisper, embracing delicacy in this latest collection as well as through her deep, genre-hopping catalog. (Kevin McStravick)

2013 Review: Eclectic singer-songwriter Jenny Owen Youngs has matured her sound beautifully on her latest, An Unwavering Band of Light.  The bright moments aren’t a product of her slow, acoustic numbers, but rather of the punk-infused electric energy of “Born to Lose” and highlight track “Pirates”.  In fact, the more that Youngs lets loose, the better she sounds.  “Sleep Machine” hits like a series of cannons, only to be followed by pastoral verses.  Youngs even uses inventive, tribal rhythmic phrasing on the track, a brilliant deviation from the folk and pop directions of her earlier tracks.