USA based multi-instrumentalist, composer/producer and multi-media artist Jacoby Davani has released a conceptual and avante-garde album with some serious psychedelic delicacies and flavors or uncharted musical territories that fuses excellently together and feels exceptionally and uniquely fresh…this journey in an album is titled “Sam Y Nona”.
Jacoby’s signature experimental musical storytelling reaches its peak so far with “Sam Y Nona”…from the title of the album, to the little voice snippets in the tracks, to the instrumentation and production of the album…Jacoby has put so much attention to details…it’s on another level, it feels like he’s making not just an album, but a film and its score…you could literally experience “Sam Y Nona” and after finishing it you’d feel like you’ve watched a movie. It’s super rich in dense emotions.
Being not just a pure artist-Jacoby is a M.S in Psychology and Behaviour Analysis holder…so he has two weapons not just one, from one side he’s making music…and from the other side he knows how to talk to your mind and soul through his music…a killer combination.
Without further ado…let’s jump into “Sam Y Nona” and see where this journey will take us…
The album consists of 7 tracks, with mystery enveloping all the tracks…there is always a sense of mystery to the meaning of the tracks…and the album…I feel like JSDAVANI wants to leave the interpretation of his music to us…he surely has a story in mind, but we as audiences will eventually see and interpret what we want to see and he doesn’t want to influence where our hearts take the story…that’s how I see it…
…and that’s why I love it even more and appreciate JSDAVANI’s art form…
“Sam Y Nona” is a diverse album…no way around it…even though having an experimental direction, each song has its own unique world that it lives in…
You have the first song in the album “Coumarou”…an ambient song, with vocals of a man and a little girl…the vocal performance feels like more of a telling of a story, rather than singing…this song establishes the fact that the storytelling elements here reigns above all…with some exquisite melodic lines with the piano and huge crashing waves with a synth and very dense rich pads, “Coumarou” takes us into the dream world of “Sam Y Nona”…
…a question I had been thinking about…are the voices in this song…are they Sam and Nona’s?
The mystery of “Sam Y Nona” is enough to keep the headphones glued to my head…JSDAVANI doesn’t shy away from the unfamiliar…
…and speaking of the unfamiliar…the second song of the album is titled “S.Winona ‘says whydon’cha'”…a very intriguing name for a very intriguing musical experiment…it’s more of a short movie experience, with sound effects and background music…and characters!
…and let’s not forget, this experience is 10 minutes…so it is very close to experiencing a dreamy short movie, because of all the dreamy synth sounds and pads that carry this song.
The album continues to suck us into this dreamy and mysterious world…with every song you experience, you delve deeper and deeper…however, the type of dreaminess and the intensity of the dreams vary from song to song…and the melodic direction varies hugely from one song to another.
…sometimes you’ll experience some bit crushed and ring modulated sonic elements like in “intendanending”…
…other times you’ll get sucked into the arpeggiated world of “nowhere”, where there is more urgency…to act, to run, to do something.
JSDAVANI worked with his Supreet Singh, one of his oldest and best friends, who also produces his own music under the name Prince Prospero…he gave his voice and wrote the words for JSDAVANI’s song “Overdue, Phone Call Long”.
The album finishes on another song…but this time the vocals play a more pronounced performance…the music is dark, the vocal performance is dark…and once again it’s performed with two vocals…like the first song…”the optimist” does the same but darker…and also heavy on storytelling elements…and it marks the end of “Sam Y Nona”.
“Sam Y Nona” is a film put into audio form, it’s the audio equivalent of a novel.
It’s new, fresh, unique, heavy, rich, experimental and filled to the brim with stories…and all of it feels very personal.
We wish all the best to JSDAVANI, he definitely deserves it and a lot more.
Waiting for JSDAVANI’s next release will be a difficult task…we can’t wait to see what he comes up with next…but we’re sure it’s going to be an even more mesmerizing experience.
Cheers!