Essie Jain has always let her emotion and life experience be expressed through her music, laying bare a deep, and oftentimes dark, stream of consciousness. Her soulful offerings are meeting places where dark and light collide, illuminating her most glorious and passionate connection with the world.
But what was once an outlet to express emotions she struggled to even talk about, has now become the most wonderful expression of her own life and light. This will be Jain’s first album in almost four years and marks the genesis of a more joyful creative direction with her songwriting.
Conceived and directed by Natalie Johns “All Became Golden” will be a recorded collection of songs written and performed by Jain and arranged by the critically acclaimed composer Nico Muhly, who has previously collaborated with artists such as Bjork an
d Antony and The Johnsons. Followers and admirers of Jain's works have long wondered why she has remained underground for so long; Johns, who counts We Made This Ourselves as one of her top ten all-time favorite records, fell in love with the idea of representing and reintroducing Essie to the world in the true light that she deserves.
Inspired by Frank Sinatra’s recording process, the sessions in February 2012 will be open to a small invited audience who will attend the live orchestral recordings in the beautiful, newly opened, DiMenna Center for Classical Music. The resultant record will be released as an audiovisual album, aimed at capturing a magical collaboration of Nico and Essie, the recording process and Jain’s deep connection to the music. Jain was steeped in the arts from a young age. She grew up in a creative family and was actively encouraged to pursue music. She took to the stage for the first time at the tender age of fourteen with her mother to sing Irish and English songs that dated back to Victorian times. It was her uncle who sent a tape of some songs they had recorded together to a publishing house in London. The ensuing deal brought her swiftly to New York City where she has lived for ten years.
After her second album, Jain became disillusioned with the business of the music industry and its exhausting commitments and misrepresentation, a common concern for any artist who suddenly finds themselves with the "job" of creating.
Turning her back on her previous style, she sought solace in the writing and creation of a lullaby album for children. Making such an intimate collection of songs was restorative, a "really perfect and quiet experience for me at the time. It gave me the chance to leave the world alone for a while, and learn who I was again."
Jain had first approached Natalie Johns to record a video for one of her lullabies. Johns agreed on one condition: that Jain would allow Johns to make a live recording of one new song and one old song from Jain's back catalogue. Jain agreed and the process inspired her to begin writing again, resuming work on the beautiful new songs for the album, All Became Golden.
Adding to the cast of collaborators on the album is Bob Clearmountain, Emmy-winning and Grammy-nominated music engineer who has worked with artists such as Bruce Springsteen and The Rolling Stones, and recording engineer Justin Guip of Levon Helm studios who won two Grammys for recording and mixing Levon Helm’s Dirt Farmer and Electric Dirt and is nominated for a third for Live at the Ryman CD. The musicians performing on the record include some of the more familiar and admired of New York’s modern classical scene, such as Caleb Burhans, Nadia Sirota, and of course, Essie Jain’s longtime collaborator and husband Patrick Glynn on classical guitar.
Everyone involved is excited to bring this collaboration to life, as they join forces to produce a much-anticipated third album from Essie Jain which will be released in early May, 2012.
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