US based venture JOY SHANNON & THE BEAUTY MARKS appears to first and foremost be the creative vehicle of Irish composer, vocalist and harpist Joy Shannon. This project was formed back in 2003, and to date six full length albums have been released under this moniker. “Mo Anam Cara” is the most recent of these, and was officially released in March 2015.
Self-described as a “Celtic pagan folk band”, and also self categorized as neo folk, those who expect this to be an album of music with deep roots in folk music won’t be disappointed, nor will the ones that expect a production that pairs off the folk music roots with details of a more experimental nature. When that is said, this is an album that to my ears are more about the vocals and the lyrics than about the instrumentation and style as such.
The compositions all revolve around certain defined elements: A plucked harp providing a base motif, slowly played and adding a frail touch of vibrancy to the proceedings. On most songs a dark, droning presence will establish underneath, slowly rising and falling in intensity, at the most intense easily heard to be a gnarly electric guitar carefully dampened and controlled, in the least intense passages more of a subtly unnerving dark presence. At last the cello will supplement with it’s rather specific, mournful sound, adding a touch of majesty to the arrangements as well as the characteristic mood of sadness the cello tends to conjure.
The compositions does tend to alternate in how the different elements are used, and fairly often we’re provided with a more frail verse segment, with vocals and harp alone or with a dampened drone contrasting the vocals, the drones then rising in intensity for the chorus section or alternate section, and in the instances with vocals and harp alone in the initial phase the guitar and occasionally cello will be deployed in the second phase or chorus section.
The songs as such are fairly slow paced and monotone, creating a kind of hypnotic, dream-laden atmosphere, and the vocals are the key element here. Shannon has a distinct and well controlled, subtly chilly voice, and use her voice for standalone lead vocals as well as layered vocal harmonies. It’s her voice that is the key element for just about all major variation on these songs, by shifting tone range, using a more intense vocal delivery or by employing layered lead or backing vocal harmonies. As her voice is such a central element how much or not you will enjoy this production will ultimately boil down to how enthralling you find her vocals, and as the lyrics appear to be rather important for the creator here, presumably how alluring you’ll find these will also impact your level of enjoyment as far as this album goes.
Personally I found this to be a well conceived production, and the style of choice here one that for me at least was a new experience. I wasn’t all that taken with this material however, but I can easily hear and understand how others will find this album to be a most charming production indeed. If the combination of high quality female lead vocals, harp and dark toned drones is one you suspect you’ll be intrigued by, “Mo Anam Cara” is an album that deserves your attention. As far as a defined key audience is concerned otherwise, I’d suspect that those who find themselves intrigued by the darker compositions of a band like Clannad should feel right at home with Joy Shannon’s material as well, and in particular those amongst them that also find music where droning textures are applied to be generally interesting.
My rating: 60/100
