Jennifer Castle – Monarch Season
Paradise of Bachelors – Out Now
There are times when the entire world revolves around a guitar and a voice, those are moments of rare perfection like those on display in Jennifer Castle’s Monarch Season. It is a special record, written and recorded before Covid-19, yet a completely solo, acoustic recording that captures Castle in the most intimate, unadorned setting possible; a guitar or piano, a harmonica and a voice.
From her kitchen on the coast of Lake Erie in Ontario, Castle watched as the monarch butterflies performed their autumnal dance. Capturing her attention, she “began to see wings in everything,” forming the basis for this collection of songs that take to the sky, unfurling thoughts and sounds with purity and grace.
Beginning with an acoustic guitar reverie, “Theory Rest” establishes the template for this collection, simple acoustic melodies in unadorned settings. Her solo finger-picked guitar serves to establish the framework, complete with the sounds of nature coming in through the kitchen window. It’s a brave approach, one that places the emphasis on the songs themselves.
Recalling earlier times “NYC” reflects on a world, and a time, a million miles from her Ontario home, “The Yankees or the New York Mets: we all pick teams, I guess/ I didn’t want to lose you, but I lost something in the end/ There’s a dark part in my heart and it’s from missing you, my friend.” The guitar and harmonica add to the reflective tone. While there is a sense of sadness, it’s in the past there is no recrimination, just reflection.
Guitar and harmonica form the framework for “I’ll Never Walk Alone.” Four lines frame the song, “My home is forever my bones/ My silk hangs on hooks made of iron and stone/ And the message inside of my veins/ Is infinite trying again.” That message seems to be an internal part of who Castle is. Going forward, going on is basically all we can do. We move because staying in one place doesn’t seem like a viable option.
The beauty of “Monarch Season” is how we are able to look at the world and get caught up in it. The gentle piano establishes a tone of flight, not fleeing but glorious flight. “I see the wings in everything/ I can’t keep my mind/ From flying away with them.” Getting caught up in that gentle, airy delight allows dreams to fill the air.
Castle uses words as paintings, creating moments that exist outside of time. Over a slowly played piano, “Purple Highway” creates suggestive images, “The closest star and its living light/ Can’t make it right/ And oh how that ripples on the lake of my mind.” The song deals with the pain of a woman and a man, yet it’s the kind of pain that everyone has experienced. Some things never change. The final song, “Broken Hearted” plays out its question over the strains of an acoustic guitar. “I swing open my window and let that moonlight in/ All the time that passes in between us/ Will it bring us nearer to finding peace within?” As a final thought, Jennifer Castle suggests there really isn’t any answer.” Monarch Season heralds a passage of time, a change of seasons, yet inside the human heart, questions still remain. There is beauty in continuing to look for answers.
Order via Bandcamp: https://jennifercastle.bandcamp.com/album/monarch-season
Photo Credit: Darryl D