This is the first time I have come across Joy Shannon, who has released multiple albums with her band The Beauty Marks, and to say I am simply blown away is something of a huge understatement. Shannon brings together multiple different styles of folk, from Celtic and Irish through Pagan and Dark to create something which has links to ambient and is incredibly atmospheric and deep. “An Chailleach” is Irish for crone or elder goddess, part of the belief of the Triple Goddess. My wife has a tattoo on her foot to represent these stages of Maiden, Mother and Crone, something all women go through. On this album Shannon explores the lore of this goddess and has brought in others who guest on different tracks, so we have additional elements added by dark folk band Osi and the Jupiter, throat singer Kai Uwe Faust of Heilung, singer-songwriter Emily Jane White, folk metal band Aerial Ruin, the dark ambient artist Leila Abdul-Rauf, singer and guitarist Jessica Way (Worm Ouroboros), and dark ambient band T.O.M.B..
They have combined to create something which is beautiful and other worldly, with Shannon contributing haunting vocals, Celtic harp, cello and harmonium. It is music which takes the listener into a magical and mystical world where anything can happen if one is only open to the experience. I just cannot believe it has taken me this long to come across Shannon, as if the rest of her material is anything like this then I have definitely been missing out. Her vocals are serene, and their nature is very different indeed to the musical accompaniment, and in many ways reminds me of Talis Kimberley (who also played harp) although musically this has more in common with Enya as her style of folk is very much inspired by the Celtic and ambient.
It is a very special album indeed, one which needs to be listened too when there is the time to simply sit with no distractions, preferably late at night with a glass of something to hand, sat in the dark where all that exists is the music and nothing else. This is designed for the winter, when it is cold and the snow is on the ground with stars above, not for summer and bright sunshine. There is a fragile gossamer fragility to this, but at the same time it is understood that the web is made of steel and with the right beliefs nothing can break it. Released in November and available through Bandcamp this stunning album will undoubtedly be in my Top 10 at the end of the year, and we are only in January. Compelling, incredible, essential.
Rating: 10/10
Links:
https://www.joyshannon.com/
