I sometimes wonder why sad music can also be so comforting. May be because it tells you are not alone to suffer in this world, may be because it shows you can turn pain into beauty.
Not Even In July, Jesse Marchant’s new album, is a musical multiverse, with numerous layers of sounds mixing a delicate acoustic guitar with strings.
But it is an acquired taste, it grows on you like a delicate painting whose colors you discover a little more at every listening.
The elegant harmonies bring comfort with visions of open fields, wide oceans and natural wonders, the kind of sceneries that convey peace. The whole album is like a beautiful landscape in slow motion which transpires warmth and a profound despair at the same time.
The introduction track reminds me a little of the beginning of ‘That’s where I belong” (“You’re the One”, Paul Simon), but it must just be the solemnity of the music. “Ambitions and War” seems haunted by many ghosts even though I am not sure who these ghosts are, and his voice in “Friends for Fireworks’”evokes the desolation of a Thom Yorke. There is an obvious longing in “Going Back Home” and I cannot find a better word than melancholy to describe it. It is the kind of song that manages to stop the time, flows slowly in your mind and soothes you. “Red October” wraps you like a warm blanket, while the music is peacefully filling the space around you. And even though “Swallowing Daggers” is about a suicidal friend, the song ends on a beautiful and reassuring solo of acoustic guitar.
Not Even In July is a melodic introspection, a visual symphony which soothes the soul and brings relief.