UNCOUNTABLE STARS

Joanne Hogg is the vocalist for celtic/progressive rock band IONA for 25 years, yet also leads in parallel a solo career for nearly 15 years now. 'Uncountable stars' is her last solo album to date, and just like with her previous projects, the magic happens again. Joanne Hogg's particularity is to own a voice that blends cleverly sorrow and enthusiasm, and which magnetism is so strong that it would make cry even people with hardened heart. In the video that the talented vocalist posted on her website, she explains that the new album is different from anything she did previously. Well, actually, after listening to the whole record, one will notice that the difference lays more in the instruments used (assorted percussions, glockenspiel, cello, cornet) than in the atmospheres (still oscillating between cheerfulness and melancholy).

All along the thirteen tracks of the album, utterly beautiful keyboard layers and heartbreaking strings share the sound space with other instruments played in a heartfelt way and the ever- moving voice of Joanna. The musical canvas is rather eclectic. In fact, at times, we are delighted with "pitching" tracks like the very sentimental "Out here", or the pastoral "Kingfisher" with its bewitching cornet. However, at other times, the music is in rather cheerful pop mood with catchy chorus (the sublime "Some things", the upbeat "Above the storm"). This contrasts with some other tracks, more nuanced in their moods, melancholic and cheerful in turn (the mesmerizing "River of tears", the haunted "Mountain of debris", the languid "Rest"). The search for diversity is further witnessed in a martial bolero ("Horse and rider"), where a sinister piano contrasts with the enthusiastic vocalizations of Joanne. The theme here comes as a wink to the last album she recorded with IONA, where a knight seated on a horse raises his sword in a desert land. Most of the songs are actually in an intimist neo-romantic mood that emphasizes not only Joanne's divine voice, but also the subtlety of her keyboard play (the lulling "In a moment", the delicate "Come away", the aquatic "My true love", the blooming "Lay down" where the cornet is once again honoured, the pleading "In that moment" that closes the album with the same theme that opened it). Moreover, with recordings of various elements of Nature - at the very start and at the very end of tracks in general (croaks, rain, wind, cicadas on a midsummer night), and an album cover depicting a kingfisher in all its splendour levitating above water with its catch of the day in beak and stars all around, Joanne certainly aimed at paying a vibrant tribute to Nature and the beauties it holds.

Drawing on her experience with IONA and as a solo artist, Joanne delivers on 'Uncountable stars' majestic contrasting ambiances where melodies are always put forward. Perform a new album of such quality with the risk of repeating herself after a string of albums, was not an easy task, the kindhearted vocalist took up the challenge and succeeded briliantly.