MUSIC REVIEW: INTO THE MIST

Few musicians have the ability to capture both the light and dark sides of human emotion quite as elegantly as Fiona Joy. Just when you think she has hit the pinnacle of her musical expertise, she unveils a masterpiece like Into the Mist (Blue Coast Records). With only a year in between the release of Signature Synchronicity and Into the Mist, it is clear that Joy has been stricken with a fever to create. The audiophile edition is being officially released at the LA Audio Show on Saturday June 3rd at 3 p.m. in a "Listening Party" with the Sony-Sponsored Magic Bus, as announced earlier on BEING.

The opening title “A Walk in the Park” begins the album with a wave of gaiety and radiates with a warm sense of peace. It feels as though a door has been burst open and has led the listener directly into the beautiful world that Fiona paints with her songs.  Segueing into “Moon Over Lotus Pond,” the mood is glazed over with a dash of pensive melancholy and evokes a sense of gratitude and wonderment.

Fiona Joy

The true heart of the album resides within the title tracks. “Into the Mist” is where Joy begins to bleed her emotion onto the ivory keys of her piano. That same air of melancholy echoes into “Mist Rising” until finally lifting once again in “Mist Before Dawn.” The symbolism in the titles is not lost within the music with the “mist” standing for emotional turmoil that eventually comes to pass.

All sense of sadness and doubt is lifted as soon as “Feeling Sunshine” rolls around. It tinkers around playfully in stark contrast to the opus that precedes it.  Complimented by “Grey Sky Morning,” a song that conveys a feeling of softness of having woken up from a nostalgic dream.  “Galloping” is an oeuvre doused in rising crescendos and plummeting diminuendos that leads the album to its graceful end with “The Void.” The final track has a languid air of mystery that ends the journey with an elegant touch.

There is no doubt that Fiona Joy is a being defined by her raw sense of emotion.  Considering it is only her second solo release, one can only imagine the powerful works that are yet to come.  Into the Mist is a beautiful continuation of Fiona Joy’s musical autobiography.

- Samantha Garcia

FIONA JOY VIDEO: GALLOPING