Jenny Gillespie Mason shares album ‘In The Safety of the Light’
In the Safety of the Light artwork
Jenny Gillespie Mason today releases In the Safety of the Light, her new album, out now via Native Cat Recordings. Produced by Noah Georgeson (Joanna Newsom, Devendra Banhart, Bert Jansch, Vashti Bunyan) and recorded at a private studio in Los Angeles, the album marks a return to the acoustic folk music Mason first began writing as a teenager.
Of the album, Mason says: ’In the Safety of the Light’ is a project that was building in me for quite a few years, but it took the involvement of Noah Georgeson for her to reach its fulfilment. Working with someone so kind, calm and creative was what was needed for these songs to become fully formed in their true essence. I hadn’t written strictly on an acoustic guitar for many years, and I felt a return to my original inspiration that led me to become a musician as a young teenager - just me and a guitar. Song-wise, there is material in the album about trying to live as an aspiring yogi while also trying to be a mother and a wife in a weird civilization. Most of the lyrics are very simple and taken from my journals, and I didn’t really do much adornment of them, as I wanted the communication to be straightforward and accessible despite the more spiritual-leaning subject matter.
After more than a decade exploring psychedelic pop, jazz, and electronic textures through her project Sis - most recently as Sis and the Lower Wisdom - Mason turned back toward the acoustic guitar of her youth. In the Safety of the Light moves through questions of how to live a spiritual life while remaining fully human, drawing on Mason's practice as an aspiring yogi, her life as a mother and wife, and her deep engagement with the teachings of Mother Mirra Alfassa.
The album's songs range widely in inspiration and terrain. ‘Rungs of Love’ and ‘Medicine of Light’ trace the ladder between earthly love and higher devotion. ‘Touch Everyone On Earth’ unfolds like a dream-prayer, its narrator imagining the Divine Mother answering a plea to heal a traumatised world. ‘Perseus’ explores a past life in the ancient mysteries of Eleusis, while ‘Woman from Nottingham’ recalls a college professor who implored her students to remember the beauty of the Earth just hours after the events of 9/11.
Sonically, the album draws on the pastoral glow of 1970s British folk, with echoes of Catherine Howe and Fairport Convention, while opening at times into the more atmospheric and ambient sounds of Hiroshi Yoshimura and the cosmic folk of Beck. Most of the songs were recorded live as an ensemble, allowing the arrangements to breathe and shimmer around Mason on acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer, and vocals, with Josh Miner Adams on percussion, Todd Dahlhoff on bass, Benny Bock on synthesizers, Gabe Noel on cello, and Alex Budman on woodwinds.
In the Safety of the Light is out now via Native Cat Recordings.
Listen here
Musicians: Jenny Gillespie Mason: vocals, acoustic guitar, Wurlitzer, Juno-6 Josh Miner Adams: drums, percussion Todd Dahlhoff: bass Benny Bock: Yamaha CS 80, Roland Jupiter-4, Jupiter-8, Juno-6 Alex Budman: woodwinds Gabe Noel: cello Noah Georgeson: production + engineering Mixed by Noah Georgeson Mastered by Philip Shaw Bova.
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