JBM - Not Even In July

JBM is the official moniker for Jesse Marchant, a skilled purveyor of moody, sometimes despairing but always deeply affecting songcraft on his acclaimed debut album Not Even In July, released in 2009 but finally receiving wider availability April 13. Recalling Nick Drake, Alexi Murdoch, Jose Gonzalez and the more reflective folk works of Neil Young, Marchant keeps things on a simmer stylistically, creating eerie minor-key masterworks of despair, loneliness and loss surrounded by a haunting atmosphere of mystery and solemn introspection. Marchant's voice is often steeped in reverb, the echoing words adding to the overall feeling of facing the world's challenges alone.

But despite the air of regret and sadness, Not Even In July maintains a warmth and tenderness and the heart of the album still beats with a hopeful humanity. Perhaps it's the feeling of intimate proximity to the proceedings at work here -- and Marchant's unflinching honesty -- but when the last chords fade on the devastating tale of suicide in "Swallowing Daggers" the emotions evoked have a cathartic effect, a meditation that oddly leaves the listener thoughtfully aware. Few albums have this uncanny ability to flow seamlessly from track to track and mood to mood, spanning the ethereal folk-hymn "Cleo's Song", lustrous acoustic shuffle "Ambitions and War" and percolating, descending piano chords and slow building crescendo of "July On the Sound." Highly recommended. On tour with Rogue Wave now through the end of April.

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JBM - "Ambitions and War" (from the album Not Even In July)

JBM - "Cleo's Song" (from the album Not Even In July)