Short Reviews [Jo Beth Young - 2024 - "Broken Spells"]

When I first came across ‘An Abandoned Orchid House’ by Talitha Rise I was just blown away by the sheer beauty and style of Jo Beth Young. This was followed up with ‘Strangers’, by which time she had shortened the band name to Rise and now finally we have her first full studio album under her own name (there was a compilation of rarities in 2022). She has maintained her long-term working relationship with Peter Yates (Fields of the Nephilim) who appeared on the debut, while both bassist Jules Bangs and cellist Ben Roberts have been there since the second, so although the artist name may have changed, this really is a logical progression. Jo has always followed her own course, none more so than with this album which shows her spreading her musical wings in a way which may actually disappoint some of her longtime fans, but it is important for an artist to be true to themselves and follow wherever the muse leads them. Here Jo is still producing the wonderful dreamscapes we have come to expect, incredibly reminiscent of Enya and Kate Bush with her amazing clear vocals, but for the most part there is less piano and there are times when she experiments with styles which have been influenced by dreamy electro and dance as it has to the more folk and progressive styles we have become used to. Mind you, she did signal what the album was going to be like with the singles she has released over the last three or four years. This means that as I do not normally listen to some of the styles she is portraying here, as generally I do not enjoy them, it took me longer to fully get inside this momentous piece of work than I expected, but the repeated listenings soon paid off and the different styles displayed here are essential to the overall flow of the album. Her vocals are sweet, innocent, with hidden depths and emotions, and she ensures the arrangements are there to support and assist and never overpower the voice which is always at the centre of what is taking place. This is an album which needs to be played on headphones when the listener has time to give it the full attention it needs, so they can fall deep inside the magical world of Jo Beth Young.