ALBUM REVIEW: Five Incantations (re-issue) – Jo Quail

Internationally acclaimed cellist and composer JO QUAIL is a rarity. One of a cadre of musicians who’s art, despite not sitting entirely within its defined borders, is welcomed into the fold by the extreme music community.

QUAIL’s work is vital proof that ‘heavy’ is not about brute volume or overpowering tone, but is as much about mood and intent. Appearing on bills with the likes of MONO and AMENRA, and on stages including ArcTanGent and Roadburn, QUAIL’s work is testament that, far from the popular conception of luddite brawn and thoughtless rage, if one’s talent is keen and vision aligned, the fandom of ‘heavy’ music is a much broader church than many would assume.

The re-issue of JO QUAIL‘s 2016 album Five Incantations (on deluxe double vinyl, no less) allows a long sold-out record to be appreciated by old hands and new converts alike. Presented renewed with a live version of The Breathing Hand recorded live with the choir of CAPPELLA GEDNANESIS and Alicja Lach-Owsiany (cello) in Gdansk, it features lyrics by MOHAN RANA in Hindi, English, and Polish.

Opener White Salt Stag kicks off rhythmically, galloping like its namesake amid a slow rise of strings. Initially sparse, yet deeply connected, strings dance like light through a dappled forest canopy, flitting on the periphery. The ceaseless rhythm never truly abates, conjuring the atmosphere of a dogged pursuit, taking a darker, more urgent turn as elements of lightness fall away. As layers fall away steadily, losing the hoof-beat rhythmic quality to be replaced by drifting strings, it is as if the hunt has ended with the stag’s ebbing death throes.

The Breathing Hand rises as an ethereal chorus, a beautiful, drifting motif as strings swell mournfully. It is less structured than some of the other offerings here, all buffeting lightness, letting JO QUAIL‘s cello speak entirely for itself, and is no worse for it. Salamander skitters with rhythmic plucks like water drops, fluid strings rising steadily, blossoming into dense layering. Triumphant and buoying around the soft, insistent rhythm, the track breaks down then begins to coalesce again, showing powers of amphibian regeneration before slowly fading amid protesting strings.

Between Two Waves is born distant and muffled, a tentative rise of hard-panned soundscaping. There’s a low susurration of bass throughout, before dropping away to silence. Strings assert themselves, rich and hazy, ascending and descending in sombre procession. Gold begins breathily, a distant pounding rhythm forming a heartbeat around which the rest of the song grows. Slowly building, organically growing, layers add like a chorus of bodily processes, effects drenched solos rising and falling, giving way to sections of booming chords. Droning notes weave throughout, forming a wearied sense of triumph before the track settles once more into heartbeat and breath.

Closing with the live version of The Breathing Hand is a canny choice. Reverberating naturally throughout the performance space, suffused with the audience noise of soft muttering and punctuating coughs one would expect from an orchestral recital, hesitant strings are almost cowed by an authoritative spoken word section, before the familiar motif reasserts itself. The choral arrangement, which mostly dovetails perfectly with the instrumentation, at times soars a little too high and a little too loud, but mirrors the string arrangements and adds to the experience of deep reverence.

Five Incantations ends, fittingly, on applause. As well it should. A powerful, spellbinding, sweepingly cinematic album, to call it a ‘modern’ classical piece belies the fact that it sits worthily alongside greatness from any genre or era.

Rating: 9/10

Five Incantations (vinyl reissue) is out now via AdderStone Records. 

Like JO QUAIL on Facebook.