Joan Shelley

Language available : english

Joan Shelley waited until she had recorded her fifth album before self-titling it with her own name. A way for the Kentucky folk artist to show that this record is the one that says the most about her? To be sure, it is her most personal and intimate work. With a great austerity that highlights the beauty of her voice and the tenor of her words, this 2017 offering marks a first collaboration with an artist from outside her habitual circle. And not just any artist: Jeff Tweedy. Wilco's wisdom has seen this album produced with care and sobriety, succeeding in bringing out each note, each word, each arrangement as if it has been delivered direct to the audience's eardrums. Even the levels on the acoustic guitars are handled with care. This superb folk record is above all marked by space and silence. We could name Shelley the spiritual daughter of Sandy Denny, Vashti Bunyan or Linda Thompson; but the quality of her self-titled record makes her an artist in her own right, and it would be right to leave behind the kind of confidentiality in which she has been unjustly confined.