Whelmed CD
Whelmed CD
In 2015 January began writing with Copenhagen based producers Steffen Aaskoven (Bliss) and Thor Finland. Her album Whelmed, produced on their production company Music Without Words, was released in January of 2017. It is a combination of smart production, masterful arrangements, and a willingness to follow melody and tune above and beyond genre or format. Her songs melt inextricably into each other with a usual sonic palette of synth oscillations and atmospheric reverb, advancing and receding within them like shadows. Percussion is employed sparingly as the rhythm is organized into the subtlest of beats that collide gently against the classical instrumentation and the tender string arrangements by the Copenhagen Cello Quartet in a way that seems to clarify each.
Her distinct sound continues to develop. In each of her songs the sparse backing allows Januarys rich and emotive vocals to create warmth and sweetness while the vocal overdubs create an echoing, almost haunting feeling via lyrics that tale a longing for love and togetherness and intertwine metaphor and the process of human relationship to the world and each other providing layer upon layer of luxurious, uplifting, undeniably spiritual warmth. Sounding, like January.
Photography by Adeline Wohlwend. Artwork done by Finlay Cowan @subwayslim