Aoife Nessa Frances – Land Of No Junction
Basin Rock Records – Out Now
Merely being born to a creative family is no guarantee a child will grow into a performing or composing artist of any stripe. Nevertheless, they will at least be given all the right kind of nurturing. Aoife Nessa Frances’s parents were an actress and a fiddle maker; they encouraged their daughter to play music from a young age. First, she played the guitar from 11 years old then progressed to flamenco lessons before a hand injury forced a re-think. “It broke my heart not being able to play that kind of music” she recalls today, but still the setback shaped her style, “mostly strumming and fingerpicking”. As an adult the cultural influences of both parents have continued to filter through, she has had involvements with the film industry but with the release of this debut album, it is beyond doubt that a musical calling is hers for the taking. Children can’t be coached into making music this good, influence and nepotism aren’t going to pull something like this out of the bag. Aoife Nessa Frances has untapped a natural spring of expression and realised the strongest of debuts.
The times and places that you first listen to an album tend to be the ones that burn into your subconscious and re-appear during subsequent listens. For me, this record was a soundtrack to wet, early morning, dark winter drives. Something about the darkness, the occasional glimpse of a distant headlight briefly illuminating the raindrops, the sense of heading into a mysterious expanse of nothingness sat quite well with the music. Not that I regard this as an especially dark album, more that it has a kind of weightlessness to it. The music floats and doesn’t feel locked down. It is free, unbound and still assured. Don’t put this one on for a casual listen; I recommend immersing yourself in it so you too can embark on a trip to the ‘Land Of No Junction’.
That album title is one of those wonderful happy accidents that can occur during the creative process. Aoife had misheard producer Cian Nugent in referring to childhood trips to Llandudno Junction and decided she rather liked the idea. “‘Land Of No Junction’ became a place in itself” she later explained, “a dark vast landscape to visit in dreams. A place of waiting where I could sit with uncertainty and accept it. Rejecting the distinct and welcoming the uncertain and unknown”.
Anyone aware of the work of Cian Nugent as a recording artist in his own right should be tempted by this release. He’s certainly no stranger to the extended freak-fuzz guitar explorations, and he allows some of those textures into the mixture here, without smothering the artist’s own vision. Opening track ‘Geranium’ fades out with some of those lovely backward guitar sounds the Beatles were experimenting with in 1966. It’s a fine example of producer and artist complementing each other. She certainly has an ear for those majestic sounds that were in vogue for a while at the dawn of the psychedelic era. Second track ‘Blow Up’ (note intentional period reference) introduces some blue-sky mellotron and a pretty dexterous string arrangement. This is really lovely stuff to float away to.
On top of Aoife’s singing and guitar playing Nugent takes care of bass and many colourful lead guitar inflections. Brendan Jenkinson is on keyboards, Brendan Doherty on drums and those aforementioned strings are the work of Ailbhe Nic Oireachtaigh. Jenkinson also mixed and engineered the record, affording the musicians the space to experiment and try different arrangements and sonics. The time and care taken in those 18 months of recordings have resulted in a magnificently layered piece of work. Even though the sessions were intermittent over that lengthy period, there remains a unity to the entire sequence of songs. This is helped immeasurably by Frances voice, an instrument itself capable of immense darkness but coated in sweet honey. It is by no means a maudlin sound, more hymnal. This music would come to life in a church equally as well as it would in a pig pen rock venue.
It would be misleading of me to refer to highlights on this album, for that would suggest there are lesser tunes and really there aren’t. It’s one of those tonally satisfying collections of songs that work as a whole suite of music. That said, I would point to ‘Here In The Dark’ as being one of the albums more immediately striking and dramatic pieces. It also makes direct reference to the nocturnal vibrations that resonate throughout the music. “From the lines on the floor to the keys in the door, in the hours after light, it’s my very last thought”. Again, the pulse of this track is a delicious ‘Strawberry Fields’ mellotron and while I’m indulging myself in period reference points, ‘Libra’ features a guitar part straight out of the Byrds mid-sixties tool kit gelling pretty damn fine in this context. Some sounds just age so well.
‘A Long Dress’ is a delicate, pensive and wordless meditation. Segueing smoothly into the next tune, it plays out as a prelude to ‘Less Is More’. Musically it’s a “talk not shout” piece that gently drifts for a minute before floating off into a celestial nirvana. Lyrically I’m finding the songs rather impressionistic; I don’t sense that Aoife was composing to nail down specific messages or stories either. This music is all about alerting your inner senses, the silent self that occupies a less defined dreamscape and it works spectacularly well if you are of a mind to go on that journey. The album finale is also the title track, six minutes plus of breathless conclusion. The opening lines kind of some it all up perfectly. “You were with me in my dreams last night, you stayed a while”.
Order Land of No Junction: https://www.basinrock.co.uk/records/land-of-no-junction/
or via Bandcamp: https://aoifenessafrances.bandcamp.com/
Aoife Nessa Frances 2020 Tour Dates:
Fri 24-Jan UK Todmorden The Golden Lion (Album Launch)
Sun 09-Feb IE Cork Quarter Block Party Festival (Coughlans Bar)
Sun 26-Jan IE Bray Banjo & Bovril Festival (Harbour Bar)
Wed 12-Feb IE Limerick Dolans w / Fionn Regan
Thu 13-Feb IE Dublin Whelan’s w / Fionn Regan (sold out)
Fri 14-Feb IE Dublin Whelan’s w / Fionn Regan (sold out)
Sat 15-Feb IE Cork Connolly’s of Leap w / Fionn Regan
Fri 21-Feb IE Dublin Grand Social (Album Launch)
Tue 03-Mar UK Brighton Green Door Store w / Modern Nature
Wed 04-Mar UK London Omeara w/ Modern Nature
Fri 10-Apr UK Brighton The Hope & Ruin w / Nadia Reid
Sat 11-Apr UK Bristol The Louisiana w / Nadia Reid
Mon 13-Apr UK Glasgow The Old Hairdressers w / Nadia Reid
Tue 14-Apr UK Manchester Band on the Wall w / Nadia Reid
Wed 15-Apr UK Leeds Brudenell Social Club w / Nadia Reid
Thu 16-Apr UK London Oslo w / Nadia Reid
Photo by Cait Fahey