<p><span>- Abandoning familiarity and embracing the vast unknown is a task that makes you vulnerable. Particularly when your bonds are long-grown, and they inhabit their own homes. However, to grow, we must break free, or break up. After dissolving her professional, personal and geographical relationships all at once, indie-folk artist Josienne Clarke certainly knows this strenuous work. After a taxing year, what follows is an enchanting solo debut, engulfing the Sussex singer in all the recognition she deserves. In death, Clarke is reborn.</span></p>
<p><span>Back when she worked with <strong>Ben Walker</strong>, Clarke’s vocals were tightly bound by the sound of the guitar. Finally, her faun-like essence is matched to the sound she was destined for. Resonating the way we were supposed to hear her. Gently, as refreshing as the scent of the earth after rain, they’re born to drift through our airwaves, dipping into melancholy, sorrow and now, hope. <em>In All Weather</em> is stripped back, focusing on providing the room for us to hear every emotionally charged syllable. According to the song <em>Slender, Sad And Sentimental</em>, this is a first in her career, as she dryly notes “<em>I’m pretty sure you never understood a word I said</em>”<em>.</em> </span></p>
<p><span>The record is assisted by experimental piano prodigy <strong>Elliott Galvin</strong>, jazz drummer <strong>Dave Hamblett</strong>, highly acclaimed harpist <strong>Mary Ann Kennedy</strong> and guitarist/bassist/co-producer <strong>Sonny Johns</strong>. If a string is plucked here, it never overpowers, or fails to serve the narrative. Evidently, Clarke has never actually needed to be louder than she is right now. Her music thrives in an atmosphere that seems full of light and where she deftly takes control. Josienne Clarke emerges from the shadow of working beside The Great Music Man, and her work triumphs because of it.</span></p>
<p><span>It’s impossible to mourn an old self without first interrogating them. Throughout her record, Clarke wrestles with her old ways and berates them: why are you there, still? She’s making changes too. On first single <em>If I Didn’t Mind</em>, Clarke follows the school of all ‘othered’ indie troubadours such as <strong>Angel Olsen</strong>, <strong>Phoebe Bridgers</strong>, <strong>Julia Jacklin</strong> in demanding respect for herself. On the experimental track <em>Fair Weather Friends</em> and the aforementioned <em>Slender, Sad & Sentimental</em> Clarke breaks new ground. She showcases her genre-defying musical potential, backed by her agile voice over which she demonstrates an impressive, powerful vocal control. Lyrically, at times, there are some moments that threaten to drift away. Yet, when a song like <em>Season and Time</em> has its sluggish moments, Josienne makes sure you’re richly compensated with couplets like , “<em>You may think you found a cherry that doesn’t have a stone</em> / <em>But he skimmed it across the water and just left the flesh alone</em>”.</span></p>
<p><span>Where were you when you first heard Clarke sing, “<em>Somewhere else I’m happier</em>” with poised melancholy, in late album cut <em>Dark Cloud</em>. I was washing dishes. Suffice to say, the sink overflowed, causing dire problems, more impactful than the ones I was crying about. It’s an indication of the cathartic power of <em>In All Weather</em>. Josienne might have written it all for herself but, simultaneously, it speaks to every lost soul. She offers her whole experience, all its despair, but also its hope. It is time for Josienne Clarke to bask in the sun that has always shone in her direction, and I believe she’s ready. We could learn a thing or two from her. </span></p>
<p><span>-Tara Garman.</span></p>
<iframe style="border: 0; width: 100%; height: 120px;" src="https://bandcamp.com/EmbeddedPlayer/album=1501974307/size=large/bgcol=f…; seamless><a href="http://josienneclarke.bandcamp.com/album/in-all-weather">In All Weather by Josienne Clarke</a></iframe>