Bay Bryan’s new single “Sweet Joan” is
masterful and spellbinding
Artist: Bay Bryan
Single: Sweet Joan
Release: 22nd April 2022
For Fans of: Laura Marling, Anaïs Mitchell, Regina Spektor, Iron & Wine
“There truly is something magnetic about the Manchester-based singer-songwriter. They appear in the indie music scene knowing exactly who they are and expressing it fearlessly.”
- Luna Keller (Indie Music Centre)
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listen…
Alt-folk singer/songwriter Bay Bryan enchants with their exquisite new single Sweet Joan, charming it’s way into our ears on the 22nd of April, 2022. The single is the third taken from their upcoming album, The Meadow, due to release in 2023.
Within the first bewitching seconds, Sweet Joan captivates, revealing Bay’s masterful ability to draw us into a story and then whisk us away on a compelling journey —one that is rich with imagery, sonically mesmerising and driven by an addictive time-ticking narrative. Bay’s enticing vocal exudes escapism as it casts spells above an ever-evolving, almost orchestral instrumentation, which features notable performances by clarinetist Fraser Langton, Roisin Ni Dhuill on viola, and Pete Mitchell on percussion.
Although Sweet Joan admittedly lives within the alternative-folk and singer-songwriter universe, it will no doubt strike a chord in any human heart that gets entangled in the tale. This fantastical love story, about a sorceress who risks her own life to save her mortal lover Joan from a mysterious and magical illness, is truly transfixing from start to finish.
Talking about the track, Bay admits “I love an act of self-sacrifice in a story. I will replay it in my head, on a loop, so that I may relish in the drama from all angles, like savouring all the flavours of a feast… And then I don’t really want to be told what happens next —I would rather be left wondering.” Fans of the likes of Laura Marling, Regina Spektor and Anaïs Mitchell will feel at home here.
“I love an act of self-sacrifice in a story. I will replay it in my head, on a loop, so that I may relish in the drama from all angles, like savouring all the flavours of a feast… And then I don’t really want to be told what happens next —I would rather be left wondering.” -Bay
Based in Manchester (originally from Colorado USA), Bay has only just begun seriously releasing music as of 2021. And yet their first two singles have received high praise from the indie community from the likes of Indie Music Centre and Rising Artists Blog with Indie Top 39 even naming Sticky Shadows as the best song of 2021. Both Sticky Shadows and Let Go have also enjoyed plays on Amazing Radio (UK/USA).
Catch Bay live next at The Constitutional on 22nd July.
Sweet Joan - taken from Bay Bryan’s upcoming album The Meadow - is out on 22nd April, 2022
Lyrics
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Upon this eve
Darkened by her grief
At a bedside she does weep
For lying ill is her lover
Human creature now weak
Whose lips have grown cold
With no strength left to speak
And the spells she has tried
Have failed to succeed
And her powers are nearing their peak
And as risky as is
She’s one move left to play
A dance with the gods
So that her love may be saved
Oh
She’ll do what she must
To save her sweet Joan
So out of the cottage
Swiftly she goes
The bright night is heavy and cold
Her green frock that’s tattered
Now flaps as she patters
Along on her way toward the meadow
Oh
Off she goes
Quick like the wind blows
Through the trees
Escaping the light
Of a full moonlit night
And star-peppered sky
Deep in the meadow
Lie a circle of stones
Surrounding a pit all ablaze
And there at the centre
Our sorceress tames
A wild inconceivable flame
She chants as she works
With focus and fight
Her gaze keenly aimed at the sky
With precision she moves
Dancing round while she beams
And pleads to the gods
So that they join in her scheme
Oh
My gods
She screams
Lend me your aid
To save my sweet Joan
Oh
I do know
What risks I am taking
To save my sweet love
To answer the witch
The gods send a gift
A handful of stars
Lower down and join in
Oh what a sight
This coven of lights
All rotating ‘round
This fire burning white
Oh, we sing for you
My sweet Joan
Oh, we dance for you
My sweet Joan
My sweet Joan
My sweet Joan
My sweet Joan
My Sweet Joan
My Joan
we insist this fatal illness now fly
But by
By conjuring this magic I may die
Oh
I always said
That you’d be the death of me
But neither you nor I
Will be leaving tonight
No
My love
My soul
Don’t go
For I’d rather die
Than live a life alone
Oh
I always said
That you’d be the death of me
But neither you nor I
Will be leaving tonight
* link to high res photos and album art / All Press photos credited to Jay Fisher
approved artist bio for immediate release…
Bay Bryan is a singer/songwriter based in Manchester (UK), originally from the Rocky Mountains of Colorado (USA), whose magnetic stage presence and heartfelt storytelling never fails to charm and command a room. Their narrative-led modern-meets-classic style of writing reminds of artists like Laura Marling, Rufus Wainwright and Donovan. Bay’s alternative/indie-folk debut concept album called The Meadow is coming out in 2023.
The first single from the project, “Sticky Shadows,” a rhythmically charged and vibrant track (released July 16th 2021) had an overwhelmingly positive response from the indie music community with several playlist adds, reviews and radio plays. The follow-up single “Let Go” (released September 24th 2021), with it’s folk-jazz nostalgic feel, has garnered over 13k views on the music video alone, over 3k streams on Spotify, and several radio plays.
Bay also recently composed songs for the theatre production “The Not So Ugly Sisters,” co-produced by Wrongsemble, RedLadder and Leeds Playhouse; and scored the music for the short film “Egg Party,” which has been accepted into several film festivals and won the audience choice award at Cinequest Film Festival (2021).
The Meadow, set to be released in 2023, is Bay’s debut studio album. It consists of 11 tracks (7 songs and 4 interludes) and conceptually takes place in a self-created fantasy space designed to keep one safe, idle and in a day-dream of sorts. However, underneath the “golden” rays of comfort lies a feeling of discord —a truth: that we no longer belong in this meadow anymore. The songs & interludes, both directly and indirectly, explore an ongoing push-and-pull —to stay or to leave. By the end of the album we finally take those much needed steps “Beyond The Meadow,” marking an end to a chapter and the beginning of a new adventure, one that is “blue…”
Past Releases / Album demo reel…
- Live-
“open and vulnerable... [Bay’s] storytelling transports us... and fosters a strong sense of community between performer and audience.”
contact
Bay Bryan (he/they)
baybryanmusic@gmail.com
+447913172071
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