On 2022’s Radical Acceptance, released by Whited Sepulchre Records, Berlin Prize-winning bassoonist and composer Joy Guidry offered what we called in our review “a personal practice brought to life in music.” A combination of ambient, jazz and classical styles coupled with spoken word delivery which drew on the work of bell hooks, and ultimately served as a fitting testament to her legacy. “A clear indication that [hooks’s] work is not only being acted upon but developed further, pushed in new directions,” as we described, with the “direct and often humorous spoken word delivery short-circuit[ing] the self-judgement of which [she] wrote.” What emerged was a novel way in which we might “connect with the reality of one’s identity in a way beyond labels, and learn to love it precisely for what it is.”
This month, Guidry returned with ‘Almost There’, a new single which isolates the more reserved, reflective aspects of Radical Acceptance and digs deeper into their significance. Built upon a bed of ambient textures, including field recordings of birdsong and moving water, the sound descends in the lineage of Hiroshi Yoshimura’s Music for Nine Postcards. A kind of in situ music which doesn’t so much recreate an environment as continue it, preserving the calm which exists within the smallest of details. “I wanted to write a song about all the peace I have found this last year,” Guidry explains:
Healing is a never-ending journey, but I’m happy to be able to smile and truly mean it. Where I can fully rest without fear of what’s around the corner. I don’t know if I will ever be healed, but I know I am almost there. I have peace rooted in my soul and am so happy to live fully and rest deeply.