Starting out as the moniker for the bedroom folk recordings of Chicago’s Jess Shoman, Tenci developed into an altogether more collaborative sound. Signing with Keeled Scales, the forthcoming Tenci record features an array of guest musicians, from Spencer Radcliffe (guitar) to Isabel Reidy (of Izzy True) and Joseph Farago (of Joey Nebulous). New double single Earthquake / Serpent shows off the resulting sound in all of its vivid glory.
Which is not to say that Tenci strays from the personal. The band name is inspired by Shoman’s grandmother, Hortencia, her kindred spirit whose singing around the house had a significant influence on Shoman’s own voice. The entire project is rooted in such links, proving intimate and introspective and turned towards an encompassing sense of fondness.
Opening with the sparse, shimmering atmosphere of a western plain, ‘Earthquake’ finds a gentle sway that taps into the wistful loss of country music without succumbing to any of the genre’s more melodramatic excesses. The song charts a failing relationship, a loosening grip, that strange sensation of trying to cling on to something that’s already passed the tipping point and destined to fall away. And Shoman’s vibrato delivery is the perfect vehicle for such emotions, sweet yet shadowed with a smoky edge that warbles with an intensity of feeling.
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In contrast, ‘Serpent’ is all about letting go, a follow-up to the previous single that charts a way out of the needless pain of self-deception. Channeling the spirit of the title, the track finds Tenci drawing on the snake metaphor in a number of ways, forming long snaking paths out of darkness to the cathartic process of moulting. “The guitar solo bends and whines as the poison continues to seep in. As I move through the tunnel you can see the intoxicating effect it has, but it is one step closer to relief,” Shoman explains. “It’s not until you finally speak your truth and become vulnerable that you can have resolution, even if that means the death of something.”
The track comes complete with a video directed by John TerEick, which doubles down on the anguine imagery with its winding roads, tight tunnels and the habitual shedding of layers. Check it out below:
Earthquake / Serpent is out now via Keeled Scales and you can get it from the Tenci Bandcamp page.