Canadian songwriter Jessie Marchant, better known as JBM, is releasing his second album ‘Stray Ashes’ on May 22nd. Follow-up to ’Not Even In July’, the album sees a continuation of the haunting vocals and engaging lyrics that were so rewarding of repeated listens. Marchant’s voice would probably make any string of words seem poignant but if you really listened to his first album and contemplated what he was saying then you realised that the whole thing had a cohesion that made it feel right in that order – the sort of record that is made to be listened from start to finish. Not Even In July’s overarching theme (at least for me, but I seem to find this sort of thing in lots of stuff as I really like the idea) was that of hope in bleakness. Lines such as ‘And every time you catch a side of your relfection, can’t decide of you should cry of if it’s time to live’ (‘Cleo’s Song’) and ’If I was older now I could give you advice//If I was younger now I’d still know how to smile’ (‘In a Different Time’) are morose but weighted in reality, not to mention the fact that they are suceeded by ’But if you’d hold my hand and we’d look to the sky//I think that there’s a chance we’d once again feel alive’. Pin points of light in the gloom.
Stray Ashes follows similar threads and is the sound of a man very much in his element. Again the vocals are stark, echoing to the listener as if across an empty room. I heard ‘Only Now’ a few weeks back and at first I thought there was some departure from the norm with the inclusion of beats but it takes seconds to be reassured. Desperate piano kicks in and builds up to a climatic line which is belted out: ’Mother, is this how we lie? Alone in our frozen beds//I am only now, and a long way out//Don’t you feel it now more than ever?’ This song perfectly sums up one of my favourite things about this album – the juxtaposition of barren, ghost-filled landscapes with the charged deliverance of certain lyrics give a feel of intense introspection, of sitting alone in silence, head awash with anger and sadness and hope.
Obviously all of this is subjective and open to any interpretation (Sorry Jesse if I have it all wrong!) so don’t take my word for it. Stray Ashes can be streamed in full over at The AV Club so head on over and see if you agree. The album will be released next week on Western Vinyl.