One of the Sunshine Coast's most versatile artists has released a new album of music shaped by the bossa nova beats of renowned Brazilian-born virtuoso Celso Machado.
Jess Hart is simultaneously a singer-songwriter and mixed-media visual artist (her work was featured in the latest Present Tense exhibition at the Gibsons Public Art Gallery). At The Kube gallery last Friday, Hart and Machado united to perform five songs from Hart's latest full-length release, Jade. Almost 50 spectators jostled for position in the crowded space, pressing the musicians for encores.
"It was a really intimate atmosphere," said Hart. "It was just so nice to be able to share some of those tracks with friends, family and community."
The 12-track album, which follows Hart's 2018 release Sex & Bureaucracy, represents a significantly new direction for the composer. While Sex & Bureaucracy stands at the crossroads of folk and electronica, Jade favours an acoustic vibe with unmistakable Latin overtones. The album's genesis occurred when Hart heard Machado perform his distinctive blend of guitar and percussion. "There was a specific song, a João Gilberto number that he played, that I subsequently really got into,” she recalled. “It's just bare bones, classical guitar — and I was extremely inspired by it."
Then two years ago, a chance conversation between Hart and Machado led to regular discussions about chords and bossa nova rhythms.
"I started composing a lot of songs in the bossa nova theme, in a pretty quick period," said Hart. "As more and more came, I had the idea that it might be a good project for an album." Hart recorded guitar and vocals at her home-based studio and sent the recordings to Machado. He layered his percussion on the tracks and sent them back for further refinement.
"I'm the primary songwriter," said Hart, "but I'm definitely giving a lot of thanks [to Celso]. These chords were something really new for me, especially coming at a time when I had taken a little bit of a break from music while focusing on other things like painting."
The buoyant melodies meander through the landscape of self-actualization and subtle political resistance, delivered in Hart's languid alto. "If I only had the key to your heart / I would tell you there is always a fresh start," she sings in If Only. In Echo Chamber, which begins with a symphony of whistles and percussive effects evoking a humid rainforest at dawn, Hart sings, "They cannot stop the world from turning / Perpetuate hate and ask for absolution / They cannot claim there's no solution."
Hart concocted the title track — Jade — as an answer to a transitional period in her life in which she discovered parallels to contemporary culture. "It's about being jaded by the weight of what's happening in the world and events, and searching for a way to keep the spark of love and joy in these times that we're going through," she said. "There's a tone of hope, to counter what's heavy and overwhelming, and to keep the lightness and joy through some of these things."
Lush string arrangements in 47 Years and Viola couch Hart's restive impulses in a bed of tranquil shimmer. "Always give rights to people and never take rights away from people," she said, summarizing her philosophy.
A samba-themed sequel is already in the works, as well as a concept album of revolutionary anthems disguised as love songs.
Jess Hart's Jade is available immediately from online streaming platforms, and in CD format from unsettledapparel.ca.
