Sparse, still, lo-fi folk with beautiful and stirring vocals.
“Far From Nowhere” is Josienne Clarke’s sixth album. She started in 2019 with “In All Weather” and her last album was 2024’s “Parenthesis, I”. “Far From Nowhere” was recorded in a week in a cabin in the remote Scottish Highlands using just a few instruments and analogue recording equipment. Murray Collier aided and abetted the process as co-producer. Clarke says that the record is a “defiant response to the logistical and emotional tolls of trying to eke out a living in the music industry”. She continues, “The structure of the industry slowly suffocates the spirit of artists, starving them of the self-esteem that comes from remuneration for a job well done, so retreating to a cabin in the woods to make my album made sense”.
Clarke is a folk artist, although her 2021 album, “A Small Unknowable Thing”, has electrification and is better described as indie-folk. She has been a Radio 2 Folk Award winner. This album is sparse, lo-fi folk, which she correctly describes as “austere”. It is centred on her beautiful, strong, stirring vocals, which are as clear as a bell. These are accompanied, in the main, simply by folk-picking on an acoustic guitar. Any backing instruments, such as a drum machine, accordion or keyboard, are very low-key in the background and sometimes almost imperceptible. There is a great sense of calm and stillness in the music.
The album was recorded with no plan at the start and has a “warts-and-all” feel. Sometimes you swear that you can hear something being dropped in the background, and there is often the sound of fingers scraping along the guitar strings. This all works very well to give an intimate sound and to make you feel you are in the cabin, listening to the performance.
Clarke provides echoing backing vocals, and this gives the music a choral feel at times. There is little of the swing or rhythm of folk music seen on her previous albums, or the warmth to her music that background instruments brought. Some may not like this, but others may like the stark nature of the offering and find a beauty in it.
Clarke’s words are very poetic and intriguing, but not always easy to discern a meaning to. They make you wish for a skilled English teacher to guide you through the metaphors and use of language. There is sometimes a dream-like quality to them, as if they were thoughts from a half-awake state in the middle of the night.
She seems to accept that life will be difficult- for example, on ‘Bushes, Briars and Thorns’ she writes that “For love is but a thousand little cuts”. On ‘What Do I Do?’ she has not been true to herself, “What do I do/If I can do what I want to?/ It’s confusing/ If I’m not your fool/ When I’m not your shadow/ If I’m not trying to be a good girl anymore”. However, she also seems to relish the difficulties and feel that worthwhile achievements come after effort, “The succour of struggle/ In the triumph & trying/ I want no winning/ Without a fair fight”.
The final track, ‘A Slow Burn’, is a fitting finale in that it puts the album in a context where it is part of Clarke building a lasting canon of work, despite the obstacles: “All of the best things test the strength of your heart and your mind/ A slow burn/ Building a fire, piece by piece, that never goes out”.
“Far From Nowhere” is one for folk music fans who like their music low-key, still and sparse, and appreciate fine vocals and poetry in the words.
