Monique Barry - Gone + Eagles

Singer-songwriter Monique Barry suprises us by releasing two new songs as one single.
 
The dual release begins with Gone, which is about the emotional loss and betrayal experienced for the first time. “It's cold since you are gone,” she sings, her lyrics gently rising through an otherworldly soundscape as she describes the disillusionment when a beloved figure is finally seen with all flaws and failings revealed. As she continues the journey from idealistic loyalty to emotional defeat,
she sings of being “lost in freedom's arms,” a description that might apply to both the betrayer and herself, but with entirely different meanings. While the song progresses, her voice, floating through echoing instrumental layers, takes on the blending qualities of wounded chanting and a faraway adult lullaby.
 
Searching through the journey from idealism to disappointment, Monique takes the themes and emotional dynamics of Gone into the musical hooks and catchy sonic quirks of the second song Eagles. Starting with the multi-atmospheric weave of instrumental rustlings, vibrations, and nudging drumbeats, Monique's voice soars above it all, taking its own form of flight. Musical ripples, splinters, and crashes, all of it both jittery and relaxing, build as Monique's singing ascends in pitch, becoming airborne and birdlike, taking the listener along on her creative search of freedom and defeat. Ultimately the two songs flow into each other, both thematically and musically, each leading the other into a unified vision. 

While providing vocals and performing on keyboards, Monique is joined by Michael Wojewoda on drums, as well ascoproducing and mixing; Marc Meriläinen on guitar; and Alisdair Jones on bass.
Always a chance-taking performer, Monique Barry has been hailed for her “hypnotic mystique” (eye magazine) and “dynamic vocal range” (The Independent Weekly). Consistently willing to experiment with musical forms, she has more than demonstrated the aesthetic knowhow to back up her performing instincts. Her previous albums—Moody (1998), Tripping (2003), Carbon (2009), and Wake (2013)—have established a critically appreciated affinity for musical dynamism and innovation.