Mari Joyce – Dear Moon
Independent – 26 February 2021
Words like ‘peaceful’, ‘reflective’, ‘soulful’ come to mind when listening to this terrific selection of songs from Norfolk-based Mari Joyce. She sings with an exquisitely pure voice accompanied by her own simple but very proficient acoustic guitar playing. But Mari has some high-quality help on these recordings. If an album can be said to have a spiritual groove then this one has it in spades thanks to the subtle but driving Cajon of Iestyn Griffith, the tasteful violin of Alex Patterson and the wonderful cello of Alex Hobbs that so often carries the substance and tone of a double bass. Remarkable playing from all. When you put this all together with the harmony vocals of Johanna Herron which compliment Mari’s voice perfectly, you have an overall sound that often calls to mind the music of Pentangle from the late sixties.
It would be easy to get lost in the sound and drift away without attending to the quality of the songs, and that would be a mistake. It seems that these songs were largely written in a cabin by the Yare river in Norfolk so it is understandable that the subject matter is often the rhythm of nature. Title track ‘Dear Moon’ talks of the cyclical nature of life and the heavens. ‘Blue Moon Brother’ seems to talk of family relationships in a delightful semi-funky way. I say ‘seems’ because these lyrics are deep and poetical in nature and demand, at least for me, many enjoyable listens to fully engage with the song. What a pleasure to hear a song that isn’t disposable and requires the listener to do a little work. ‘Home’ has a slow pulse and takes an introspective look at some of the darker places of personal experience and features some extraordinary string playing and, once again, that wonderful trance-like cajon.
Lockdown has caused may artists to look inward and create music and song that laments the way things are not the way we would like them to be. Mari’s album seems, in some way, to allow life to flow around and through the listener and leave one feeling, at least for myself, strangely positive and hopeful. This album has had repeated plays in our house. If you are prepared to work at the listening experience you will not be disappointed. I loved it.
Pre-Order via Bandcamp: https://marijoyce.bandcamp.com/album/dear-moon