Seasons come, seasons go… and Jesse B Marchant (JBM) weathers the storms of them all. After returning from a long tour abroad, Merchant decided to let loose his growing disillusionment with ‘Stray Ashes,’ a sober meditation on winter’s pain in stark contrast to the fireworks of his summery debut, ‘Not Even in July.’ With his chilling baritone and campfire-ready guitar, this record could only have been put together in a cabin in the Catskills, where he built an impressive record of new material with only his instrument, his muse to guide him… And a few hundred geese to keep him company. Songs like ‘Ferry’ and ‘Only Now’ connect his new path to the somber trail he’s carved out so far, and the percussive accents on new single ‘Winter Ghosts’ offer a glimpse at a new direction for an artist discovering a voice built for all seasons. First single ‘Winter Ghosts’ is available now from NPR. Stream it here and see him when he plays Mercury Lounge with Damien Jurado on May 19th.
Mike Levine (@Goldnuggets)