US composer, musician and artist Joy SHANNON has been active with her band The Beauty Marks for more than a decade, and besides the seven albums they have released she also has some collaborations with The Offering on her CV. Now in 2020 she will add a strict solo album to her name as well: At least as far as I can see, her forthcoming album “The Cave” will be the first album released solely as a Joy Shannon album, and is set for a December 21st release.
What to expect from this album is both easy and difficult to describe. The elements used in it’s creation are few, the differences between the songs on a plain musical level is mainly subtle, and the compositions as such doesn’t contain any drama nor any typical development as you’ll normally find in most music generally described within a popular music context. If a genre really needs to be specified here, I guess ambient will be the most fitting. That being said, this isn’t a light or an easy musical experience either.
The majority of the songs revolve around Joy’s vocals, a plucked harp and a cello. An additional vocalist is featured here and there, some sounds from a guitar too, and percussion is provided by the bodhran on a select few occasions. The former three elements are the dominant ones however.
The tempo in the songs tends to be slow, with the plucked harp setting the pace, while Joy’s vocals alternate between being a single standalone voice and a part of multiple layered vocal harmonies. Her voice and the vocal harmonies are the main elements that differentiate, albeit on a subtle level, with tone, pitch, intensity and the number of layers used for the vocal harmonies, being the elements that fluctuate. Sometimes it sounds like a very slight delay has been applied for the layered vocal lines, but if that is the case or if this is just an unintended side effect of layering multiple vocals I can’t tell. It does add a slight tension to the passages where this happens though. At last the cello is mainly used as a contrasting element, delivering dark textures and drones and at times with a rough sound more sharply contrasting both the lighter and softer vocals and the more delicate harp.
From what I can hear this album is much more about mood and atmosphere than it is about typical musical constructions. Folk music, classical music and pagan music are references in terms of roots and foundation, and I’ll add chants, requiems and prayer as some of the more distinct associations I got from some of the songs here. The latter of these more defined features primarily an aspect of concluding song and title track ‘The Well’. As an album experience this production strikes me more as presenting a mental state of being though. Music you can immerse yourself in to be a part of the mood and the atmosphere, and that can inspire you to take and accompany you on journeys inside your own mind. Introspective material, if you like.
There is a lot of beauty to be found in dark places, and this album is an example of that, with Joy Shannon’s mainly light toned, elegant vocals and the more delicate sounds of the harp riding on top of the darker and at times almost gritty darkness of the cello. Those who suspect an album’s length worth of this type of music sounds fascinating should probably take note of this production, and for those who are unsure I’d say that there’s a pretty good chance that this is an album you will enjoy if good, old Clannad’s ‘Theme From Harry’s Game’ is a song that you find stunningly beautiful. Not because the songs here are all that similar, but due to certain similarities in overall mood and atmosphere.
My rating: 80/100
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Track list:
1. Síonnan
2. The Cave
3. Haunted Shrine
4. Cloister
5. Vow
6. Conjuring
7. Yew Tree
8. Open Like Legs
9. Die as the Sun
10. Song of the Rohirrim
11. Rhiannon
12. The Well
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Links:
https://www.joyshannon.com/
