𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿 – this week: The Dark Days – Jasmine Catherine

Welcome all to 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗹𝘆’𝘀 𝗖𝗼𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗿, a series of weekly reviews by Charles Connolly – an artist in his own right. Here, Charles delves into the greatest brand new singles brought to you by the best unsigned artists on our electrifying and eclectic set of 𝙉𝙚𝙬 𝘼𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙨𝙩 𝙎𝙥𝙤𝙩𝙡𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 playlists.

𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝘿𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝘿𝙖𝙮𝙨 – 𝙅𝙖𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙣𝙚 𝘾𝙖𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙚

Charles commands his audience…

“All the world’s a stage, And all the men and women merely players”. Wise words from The Bard. I think more so than ever, we take this literally. Life has become a theatre. While we used to warm to the comforts of tradition and still calm (the predictable status quo), these days we seem to crave unexpected newness; whether it be desirable or not. We are glued to our screens when horror strikes. But another way we seem literally to treat life as theatre, is the way so many of us act so naturally to the camera. We speak to its lens like a close friend. We exaggerate movements and expressions in order to garner views and comments. We need the rapturous applause! Basically, we are anything but content behind all the content. Monotony is no longer meditative, but an unliveable torture, as if you have been told “No more heroin for YOU, little miss missy”…

For me, very little in this world is more exciting than art. Art is what humans create for humans to enjoy. It is a connection and a bond between us all. Nature is fab and all, but we can’t quite have the same respect and awe as when it is created by we mere mortals. With nature, it just happens, no matter how incredible and beautiful it is. Great art is more than the art itself. It is the expression of man. The skill of man. The experience of man. The ingenuity and originality of man. Yes, of woman as well (obvs.). So… Why is it that so much art these days is so dull and so tedious? Within the last couple of years we have watched HAL (A.I.) copy humans. But in more recent times, I have noticed something quite frightening. More so, I mean. Humans seem to be sounding more and more like HAL. It is as if we are copying the copy. But the original copy was already inferior and quite plastic. So what we end up with (in the copy of the copy) is something so utterly predictable and frankly pointless, yet still created by man. It is like we are making art for the sake of making art. “Art for art’s sake (money, for God’s sake)” – thank you, 10cc. Are we to go on in this manner? To plonk another piece on the pile so as to make it taller…?

I think somewhere down the line we lost something. Despite us all being actors these days, we seem to have misplaced the theatre. The audience is ready and willing (can you hear them chanting from the auditorium?), and yet there is no stage. The good news is, this isn’t universally true. We still have pockets. Few, but deep. Shall we look at the theatre of music? No, I don’t mean musical theatre. I mean theatrical music. We’ll gloss over the 1950s because the only theatre we got was gyrating hips set to 3 chords. The 1960s brought us The Who, The Doors and Pink Floyd (the early days with Syd Barrett). Even without seeing these acts, the music was definitively theatrical, exciting and fuelled by drugs. The 1970s was really the most theatrical decade of relatively recent times. Even normal people were sporting platform shoes, flares, sideburns (less so the women) and any manner of flamboyant wear. And in music, we had Queen, 10cc, Kiss and David Bowie. Does it get more theatrical than these acts? The 1980s realised ways of bringing theatre into true pop music: Toto, Michael Jackson, Kate Bush and Prince. The 1990s decided that anything could be mainstream, as long as it was new and magnificent; cue Björk, Blur and Slipknot. The 2000s saw a return to the classic days of theatre in music: Muse, Lady Gaga and Rufus Wainwright. Now, the 2010s is where it all gets a little tricky. This is when things started to go a little plastic and sterile… We can’t blame HAL for EVERYthing… There were still a few excellent theatrical music acts, though: London Grammar, The Dear Hunter and Benjamin Clementine. But we had such hope for the 2020s. That we might resume the magic of music; but HAL ruined that. The good news is, the human excitement is genuinely coming back. It started with Billie Eilish, but latterly we rely on acts that aren’t strictly “pop”: Wolf Alice, Jacob Collier, The Last Dinner Party, and RAYE. Of course, you’re all screaming and shouting that I missed out “this” and I missed out “that”. There will be TONNES of ones I’ve missed out. But I’m not the Encyclopaedia Britannica (or the theatrical equivalent: Wikipedia).

RAYE is the one that really made me think about all of this. Her latest album is an absolutely staggering feat, rocking the mainstream world, hopefully worrying the likes of Ed Sheeran etc.. Isn’t it lovely that Ed Sheeran is FINALLY out of favour? ENOUGH of the deadly dull. OUT with the utterly predictable!! RAYE managed something of all eras, yet somehow wholly modern. I really hope this makes the mainstream try a little harder, but not COPY HER!!! We need exciting originality. I crave it constantly since you took away my heroin. Thankfully, this love of theatrical resonance is here in the independent world. Not in abundance by any means, but there are smatterings of it hither and thither. One such smattering was delivered to my ears many months ago. Last year, in fact. An artist I have been quietly following from last year to this day. Every release simply different from what we usually hear on various playlists. And I don’t mean it’s just full of weirdness and dissonance. There’s plenty of that, but not here. I am speaking of the English rose, Jasmine Catherine. She has a history of actual musical theatre and is classically trained to boot! She must therefore be rather good at booting. Every single one of Jasmine’s releases is theatrical to the extent that each could be included in a Lord of the Rings film. Some have said Disney, but I think it’s rather more sophisticated than this. I sort of think of it as opera for the modern pop ear.

This is ‘The Dark Days’, released in October of last year. Of course, she has had several releases since, but I thought this particular one would be a good introduction for you all to understand what it is that Jasmine Catherine creates. Have you heard of her? Perhaps not. Should you have done? Absolutely. Hence THIS. I called her the English rose because she is from England, but not just because of that. Her features are pure, with long, naturally red hair, bright blue eyes, and the kind of skin that screams “sun, be GONE!!”. Her speaking voice is just the kind of English accent we all hear in Harry Potter and Hugh Grant films, but rarely in real life. With this voice she even reads audiobooks! She is obsessed with fairytale and fantasy. She does not scroll at 2am. She reads at 2am. She seems to have two obsessions: reading and making music. Jasmine is of a mythical past. But from this idyllic era, let us turn to ‘The Dark Days’.

The piece (I can’t quite call it a song) is unique. In a way it is classically filmic, but in other ways it is somehow modern. Vocally, there are similarities in fellow indie artist Jessica Mia (singer for Jane Marie’s songs), but I think one sings differently when the piece is self-written. It is nearly impossible to compare this piece to any other artist, because of how original it is. But if I had to, I would mention London Grammar, Wolf Alice and The Last Dinner Party in terms of voice, Kate Bush in terms of daring, and RAYE in terms of being able to blend musical theatre with something more accessible and altogether cool. I am beyond impressed with the sophistication of the writing and arrangement. Very adulty, yet so youthful. The backing vocals also have a teensy-weensy bit of Billie Eilish. What astounds me about ‘The Dark Days’ is how it is less than four and a half minutes. Too much happens in such a brief amount of time. And yet, the whole piece takes its time. This isn’t by any means some sort of frenetic jazz nutcase of a piece. It is ultimately beautifully classical, but the writing and production take it places you just weren’t expecting. Take, for example, the opening distant violin ostinato (which is absolutely perfect)… It could go anywhere from here, but alongside Jasmine’s initial line, there is something very dark indeed. At first I thought it was a bass trombone, but within seconds I realised it was perfectly following her vocal melody. More than the melody, in fact. It is – I believe – her very vocal recording, pitched down by two octaves. It’s just NOT what you would expect to hear from ANYone! Then just as you have settled into the current climate, the weather changes (such is the way in England). Jasmine sings the line “And you ask yourself, are these the dark days?”, and there is a pause. Up to this point, the voice is coated in a soft but lush hall reverb, but at the point of “days”, it is switched off – reminding you that we can do anything in the 21st century, and that all is not perhaps as it might seem. The orchestra ensues, complete with deep strings (both bowed and plucked), timpani, tubular bells, and a choir. This violin ostinato (played by Adrian de Lima) runs through most of the piece for momentum. From this moment the production (by Nicole Gisbourne) sets sail, and from this moment, the unstoppable sea crashes on, despite numerous obstacles. I could of course go into SO much more detail, but I understand, you all have things to do. At least make sure that one of those things is pressing play. And if you still have a bit of time, make sure to catch up on ALL 9 of her releases so far. I’m very much looking forward to Jasmine sealing them all together in a neat little LP – if she chooses to do that.

And now the curtain falls to close
The story of an English rose
With English eyes and English nose
I hope you liked my English prose

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