AWARD-winning performer and composer, Jessica Danz. will launch her new album, Under the World, at the Glad Café in Glasgow at 7.30pm on Thursday 14th March.
Under the World is the first of three new albums by Jessica 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.
“Under the World… shares qualities with the ocean – a feeling of tumult, foreboding and an awe-inspiring vastness.” – Nadine McBay, The National, 28th February
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 a miniature folk-opera that builds to a thunderous finale.
Under the World will be available exclusively on Bandcamp as a digital release.
About Jessica Danz
Jessica Danz is an award-winning performer and composer living and working in Scotland. Weaving a haunting voice over the sounds of piano and violin, she is a maker of finely-crafted songs, as well as writing ensemble works and live scores for theatre, dance and silent film.
Forging her own highly-individual creative path, she has emerged from her classical roots to work across many artistic genres, including folk and world music, improvisation, theatre, and visual art. A versatile and highly-skilled performer, she brings together contemporary classical and folk-noir elements in an experimental, virtuosic style.
Originally from Perth, Western Australia, in 2015 and 2016 Jessica travelled through Scotland and Scandinavia, performing, creating new songs and instrumental works, and documenting live performances in locations as diverse as mountains, sailing ships, sea caves and ancient churches.
Moving to the Outer Hebrides in 2017, she was commissioned by An Lanntair’s Faclan Festival to create a live piano score for the early Icelandic film Ísland í Lifandi Myndum. The work was then installed as part of the 2018 exhibition SSA & VAS TOGETHER at the Royal Scottish Academy.
In 2018, she was awarded one of Creative Scotland’s Muriel Spark 100 grants to write a new work for string quintet, which she premiered with the Brodick Quartet at the Scottish Poetry Library.
Said Jessica: “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.
“As my musical voice began to emerge once more, 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. Music is, and always has been, an inextricable part of who I am. It’s a complex, challenging relationship that’s constantly changing and evolving.”
Links
Website www.jessicadanz.com
Bandcamp https://jessicadanz.bandcamp.com/releases
Facebook event https://www.facebook.com/events/298022747730540/
Album trailers
Image credit
Album artwork (credit: Laurence Winram)
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Website: http://www.jessicadanz.com
