A Gorgeous New Album from Joceline
An absolutely gorgeous album release from Joceline brings out such a wonderfully lush and semi-theatrical set of songs and soundscapes, complete with this blend of dream pop, elements of folk and singer-songwriter, powerful ballads, and beautiful instrumentation that all bring the record to life, along with loads of honesty, making the entire thing character-riddled.
Lights In Darkness is an album that definitely gives off a lot of truths. Joceline can be very descriptive and detailed lyrically, so at times, you can paint a picture in your head as songs unfold, which is quite a beautiful attribute to the record as a whole.
Most importantly, this is an album that lets her give pieces of herself. I'm a big fan of any kind of music where the artist gives pieces of themselves because you know that everything's coming from a very authentic place.
This, to me, gets me more attached, and that personality delivered is the thing that really wrapped itself around you throughout this entire release.
The record starts with a track called "Closure", which features piano as its main instrument, and string sections that are sort of peppered through the track giving it a bit of an orchestrated and cinematic undertone.
Her vocals are sort of silky but also passionate at the same time. They can get more intense when they want to, so when she feels higher levels of emotion coming through, you can hear that in her vocal performance, but as a whole, this track is amazing to introduce the record with.
This is mainly because you're getting some of these outstanding Staples that the entire release gives off.
You have the waves of intensity, the orchestrated and cinematic backbone, the emotional push and pull, and her very particular vocal style and the way she records. Often, she doubles her vocals, which adds a bit of thickness to her performance and allows you to focus more on the lyrics.
Each of these songs displays that heavy hand in terms of emotion. Songs like "Distant Dream" come through with a very elegant touch. The string sections are flowing, and the textures and tones throughout it really sit on top of each other amazingly.
The blend of piano, violin, and vocals, especially, all come together like puzzle pieces.
They all complement each other in a particular way that lets everything come through with its own atmosphere.
And that is what this record boasts the most. This album gives you an atmosphere that you fall right into. Once you're in there, you don't want to leave.
Again, this is a very theatrical record to me. The performance and instrumentation make it sort of alive and breathing.
It's a record I would suggest listening to from start to finish simply because there are some surprises around the corners, and all of these songs go together almost like it's a concept record.
The songs are almost like reading a book. They're like chapters in her life, in a sense.
They go together and tell the full story, so listening to this record all the way through gives you the experience you were supposed to actually get.
I love this aspect simply because it pulls you away from wherever you are and whatever you're doing and puts you in this entirely different place and space for a chunk of time.
The record is certainly vulnerable and very unafraid in terms of expressing herself and letting a lot of that inner thought out, so everyone can soak it up.
I found that brave, and the way she does it all is very beautiful. Again, the whole thing has a certain elegance to it in the performances that make it flow in such a natural and forward-moving fashion.
This is a record that's super easy to get engulfed in and then eventually, washed away with.
The artist is outstanding at bringing together moments of vocal harmonies in the right spots and at the right time.
You can tell there was a lot of attention paid to the arrangement and building of these songs, and that she had a particular idea in mind when she put it all together.
Her moments of lush vocal harmonies let songs rise and thrive in a certain sense. You end up following along with that and can easily tell that it's something the artist was born to do.
Another thing I should mention is that there are a few instrumentals throughout this record that serve as both an interlude in the middle and an outro at the end.
This also adds to some of the cinematic and even theatrical aspects the album delivers.
All in all, this was incredibly alluring, packed with personality, and completely unafraid. This is one of those records that stays with you for hours or even days after it has ended.
I would listen to this record with headphones on and again, all the way through.
Listening with headphones lets you soak in all these beautiful layers of texture that are delivered between all the instruments and vocals that are on the record.
Take a deep dive into this one and be prepared to get wrapped up in it. This is for people who like music that lets you think or feel.
