Jess By The Lake is the solo project of Jasmin Saarela, known as the mystic leader of Finnish occult band Jess And The Ancient Ones. Jess By The Lake‘s debut album, Under The Red Light Shine, set for international release on 7th June via Svart Records. Under the Red Light Shine is definitely a departure from the more guitar driven, fuzz filled epic psychedellic occult sound of Jess and the Ancient ones and trust me, this is a great thing. The opening title track, while guitar driven for the most part, showcases the dynamic abilities of this band to actually create a journey for the listener as opposed to just background music.
“Freezing Burn” is very reminsicent of a ’60s kind of dark, brooding psychedelic soul song while “The Wait” really showcases Saarela’s dynamics as a vocalist. Hearing her sing her own songs is a totally different game from Jess and the Ancient Ones and Exploding Eyes Orchestra. Saarela cuts loose and not only elevates herself as a vocalist but we also get to see what a fantastic songwriter she is. The arrangements, the harmonies, and even down to the sequencing of Under The Red Light Shine is well planned and honestly couldn’t be more perfect.
“Halo (Ghosts in the Flame)” is the stand out track to me. I love the haunting, almost gothic sound of the intro. It’s sparseness ironically creates a much more grandious sound than you would expect. Not only is probably my favorite song on the album but I think this is Saarela’s shining moment as a lyricist. For so long I’ve waited to see what lied within the mysterious creative mind of Jasmin Saarela and, in my opinion, this is where she truly opens up and lets us all in. I also have to point out that the incredibly dynamic drumming of Marianne Heikkinen and the female harmonies of Marianne and keyboardist Ethel Sepala is what I feel aided Saarela to take this song to extraordinar heights and allow herself to take off.
The epic nine minute closing track, “Interstellar,” is hands down the way this album needed to be closed out. This song reminds me a good bit of something I would have heard by The Devil’s Blood with it’s guitar dominating sound. The beautiful guitar playing of Jess along with guitarist Aapo Kauppinen created a guitar driven song but did so tastefully and sparsely. I also feel like this is where Heikkinen and bassist Heikki Leppäjärvi really locked in to create a heavy yet dynamic foundation for the guitars to float upon while Saarela unleashes vocals that sound as if she it very well could be the last song she ever sings.
The common elements umong these songs are dynamics and confidence. For Saarela to side step from Jess and the Ancient Ones into her own side project was a bold move. It was a bold move that could have gone into any extreme but unsurpisingly, to me, Jasmin Saarela has proven to be a powerful, creative entity of her own. From her choice of musicans to ethereal lyrics, Jess By The Lake is very much a band on it’s own. It doesn’t sound like a side project and it doesn’t sound half assed. It’s as full of emotion as anything she’s ever done with Jess and the Ancient Ones, it’s musically outstanding, and there is a deep spiritual connection between creater and art. As a listener, this is a truly amazing thing to take in and this album got many listens just to take it all in.
Pre-order the album from Svart Records!
Jess By The Lake are:
Jasmin Saarela -Vocals, electric guitar, vurlitzer
Marianne Heikkinen -Drums, backing vocs
Ethel Seppälä -Keyboard, backing vocs
Aapo Kauppinen -Electric guitar, backing vocs
Heikki Leppäjärvi -Bass, backing vocs
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