With the mercury still rising, it almost feels like summer as we amble through Coventry to Fargo Village, a creative quarter that has sprung up in a space behind Far Gosford Street, providing a remarkable array of boutique outlets, a micro-brewery, and simply one of the best record stores we have seen in a long time.
A digression
When we arrive, things aren’t quite ready, so we head to Twisted Barrel Microbrewery, who offer a range of fantastic ales. Whoever designed this area clearly had the right idea because there’s a perfect balance of indoor and outdoor space, developed in and around once-disused industrial units. The revamp itself has been somewhat ad-hoc, using a mixture of recycled materials and contemporary elements to create a bohemian oasis just outside of Coventry City Centre. Vibrant, artistic, and community-spirited, we’ll be visiting again.
Back to the plot
We are here to see Jarboe, who is currently touring her stunning new album Sightings. With Joy Von Spain helping on piano and Greet in support, we’re looking forward to a night of enigmatic, ethereal music and, as you may imagine, we are far from disappointed.
We arrive in time to catch Greet, a neo-folk project from former Dawn Ray’d drummer Matthew Broadley. Taking to the stage, Matthew has only a harmonium and, although never seen, what sounds like a Cajon to provide a certain level of minimalist percussion.
A drone / neo folk project, Greet combines powerful vocals with a hypnotic sound that is genuinely mesmerising even with minimal amplification. Imagine if early Pink Floyd, Angels of Light, and Harvestman had a love child and you’re somewhere in the ballpark.
Material is drawn primarily from last year’s debut album, I know How To Die but, with pieces sewn together, and with a cover of John Barleycorn added to the mix for good measure, it is not always clear which song is which for the uninitiated. Nevertheless, as Matthew segues between trad-folk, drone, and even a touch of dissonance, we do identify The Seer, which emerges as a highlight of this short, majestic set.
As an introduction to the world of Greet, this understated solo set is perfect, highlighting the depth of Matthew’s compositions and the strength of his voice. He earns a solid round of applause and it’s notable that the small, enthusiastic crowd remain absolutely silent throughout – a mark of respect for an impressive performance.
Learn more about Greet here.
Another digression
Just Dropped In is absolutely brilliant. For music enthusiasts it’s the sort of place you wouldn’t mind waking up dead within. Huge racks of beautifully cared for vinyl, rare releases displayed on the walls, an easy-to-use filing system, and reasonable prices are the order of the day and whoever buys in stock has a genius for hitting all the right spots from the super-obscure to popular contemporary.
And, to cap it all, they hold gigs of an evening, enabling music fans to experience live performances, have a drink, and continue browsing the racks between acts.
What a place!
You can guarantee there’s now a firm X marked on the map to make sure we can find our way back here again; it’s basically a perfect music space and one that holds the art of making music at the very core of its being.
Jarboe
This awesome, intimate venue is full for a good five minutes before Jarboe enters. As she does, the low-level chatter dies away to absolute and expectant silence as Joy triggers a sample of birdsong.
A synth pulse emerges beneath this and, as Jarboe sets up her laptop, she whispers into the microphone, creating a swelling ambient backdrop that flows into an eerie Alchemic One. Stripped way back, it places the onus on the vocal interplay between Jarboe and Joy Von Spain, and their chemistry on stage plays a large part in making tonight so hauntingly special. The track fades out once more into birdsong, which has the unfortunate impact of leaving the audience uncertain as to whether they should clap and interrupt the flow or simply let the sounds wash over them. In this first instance, we opt for the latter, but the applause that comes later rapidly progresses from faltering to tumultuous, underscoring the deep connection Jarboe establishes with her audience despite not uttering a word until the very end.
Emerging from the birdsong, the earthen beauty of Ode To V is initially announced by the rich tones of a grand piano. It soon progresses to find spoken word vocals floating on a bed of pulsing synth noise and, with Joy’s stunning vocalisations and Jarboe’s spoken word poetry, it’s a remarkable piece that sits somewhere between latter-day Swans and Dead Can Dance. A dense work on record, even in this unique incarnation, it captures much of the majesty of its album counterpart.
Providing an airy counterpoint to the opening numbers, the gorgeous Vireo Serenade is light of touch and wholly beautiful. Inspired by nature and rather unearthly at the same time, it is easy to see how this short, sweet piece of music provides Sightings with its heart.
The grand piano returns for a sinister Holiness, the surging guitar of the original composition replaced with heavy chords on the grand piano. With Jarboe’s spoken word vocal intoning “to go through loss, bitterness in your heart”, we start along a journey that eventually finds hatred washed away by the cleansing power of the ocean.
Yet a sense of darkness hangs over the venue like a pall, and the electronic stuttering noise of CAUGHT bridges the gap between Future Sound of London and post-rock, Jarboe warning in a childlike voice that “they’ve fallen in love with their own hatred”. This, in turn, leads us back to the ocean and to the off-kilter rhythms of Tightrope. With Jarboe engaged in an explosive performance that is part masterclass in tension-inducing dynamic, part performance art, she all but screams a number of passages, causing the audience, increasingly lost in Jarboe’s sonic maze, to rock back as she channels the water, demanding that we dive in and breathe.
After a piece of such intensity, Jarboe dips into the ethereal beauty of Sightings once more for Choir and the Night Fox. Under a warm blanket of quasi-hymnal noise, we find ourselves outside once more, this time amidst the predatory forces of the night, Jarboe and Joy delivering an amazing performance that builds across multiple layers to a breathless climax.
With the evening racing past, Jarboe opts to ease as back to reality with two more traditionally song-oriented pieces. The first of these, Wayfaring Stranger In The Bardo, provides a showcase for that voice, recalling the naked beauty of World Of Skin.
And then, to cap off this short, utterly bewitching performance, we are treated to Illusory, a piece of music of such unearthly beauty, it is difficult not to become overwhelmed in the face of it. Languid and possessed of a melody that seems to haunt your very senses, it is one of the loveliest pieces of music committed to tape, concluding with the realisation that “I’m here, I’m here, I’m here, I’m still her”, as if Jarboe’s found her way back to her own sense of self after a period of existential reckoning.
And that’s it. To rapturous applause, Jarboe utters a quiet thank you, as if she hasn’t just transported us all to realms unseen and quietly starts packing down her equipment. If that sounds anticlimactic, it’s not supposed to – there really is no other way the evening could have ended. Now, it is simply time for the audience to slowly filter out into the night and process what they’ve just experienced.
A Jarboe performance is something very unique, very special, and very human. It is a communal experience shared between artists and audience, with each night’s set reflecting that relationship as well as Jarboe’s experiences across the day. Tonight’s performance feels daring, taking us on a journey from the opening incantations, through the cleansing rituals of CAUGHT and Tightrope, to the final realisation and return to reality of Illusory. Deeply emotional and wholly engaging, it was a performance to treasure and one I’ll carry with me, I suspect, for the rest of my life.
