“Jasmine” is a stirring folk track from Timber Choir, a collaboration comprising longtime friends Adam Sams and Brendan St. Gelais. They describe the release as speaking “to the longing to feel grounded, to feel a sense of belonging where you are, and to find that in the person you have loved and lived with through many winding seasons of life.”
The track takes particular inspiration from a quote by Ernest J. Gaines: “I feel like a dry leaf, broken away from the tree and now drifting with the least bit of wind toward no true destination.”
“The vines outgrow the edges,” the lyrical descriptions enamor alongside trickling guitar work, casting an ethereal spell. Soft percussive thumps complement seamlessly, as the vocals drive into the “you are the one who grounds me,” proclamation — sending chills in its smitten qualities and emotive folk enthrallment.
The duo elaborate further on the creative process within:
“We recorded the main guitar track with an old Fender Coronado run through a lo-fi crank music box. This created some neat pitch-bending effects that feel kind of warped and wobbly – I think it kind of sonically represents the visual image of vines growing wild in the summer heat here in the South. Everything grows thick and heavy, and the humidity can sometimes feel oppressive and make it hard to think clearly. I like the idea of capturing that dissonant feeling, and counter-balancing it with resonant, harmonic vocals singing, in a brief moment of clarity, “you are the one who grounds me.”
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This and other tracks featured this month can be streamed on the updating Obscure Sound’s ‘Emerging Singles’ Spotify playlist.
