Join award-winning performer and composer Jessica Danz for the launch of Under the World, the first of three new albums to be released in 2019. Written between Scotland and Australia, the album was recorded at Black Bay Studio on Great Bernera, one of Europe's most remote recording studios.
Ranging from the quietly intimate Jeannie through to the sweeping orchestral textures of The Demon Lover, all music is performed by Danz on voice, violin and piano. Combining haunting vocals, the rich sound of a 1930’s Bechstein grand piano, and seductively layered violin textures, the album features her distinctive folk-noir style and the virtuosity of her classical training.
The songs are all original compositions with the exception of The Falcon, a re-imagining of a traditional melody paired with the ancient lyrics of the Corpus Christi Carol. The track Under the World - from which the album takes its title - is inspired by two powerful female characters from Babylonian myth. In the penultimate work Danz takes the words of the superbly dark traditional ballad The Demon Lover, setting them to her own music to create an miniature folk-opera that builds to a thunderous finale.
"In 2015 I began a journey out of silence - after spending several years away from music I began to perform and write songs again after a long creative winter. I've always been drawn to the archetypal story of the descent to the Underworld: a symbolic death and rebirth, and as my musical voice began to emerge again, I felt the resonance of this ancient tale. Navigating grief, loss, metamorphosis and transformation, these songs are stories of how I found my way into - and out of - that hidden place under the world. Running through the album is a common thread: despite my years of silence, music is, and always has been, an inextricable part of who I am. We're intertwined in a complex, challenging relationship that's constantly changing and evolving."
-Jessica Danz
Under the World will be available exclusively on Bandcamp as a digital release.
TICKETS: £5 at the door (cash sales only)
PLEASE NOTE: Due to venue requirements this is an 18+ event