Jane Weaver/Love In Constant Spectacle

Jane Weaver works a psyfolk/electronica territory that borders some of Beth Orton's work, but over the course of several albums she's become more pop, gleefully throwing doses of Krautrock, synth pop, and plain old disco into the mix.

photo: Nic Chapman

Hearing her last album, Flock, in 2021 as the world took its first shaky steps away from the feverish paranoia of Covid lockdowns towards something resembling normal life, was like hearing music in color for the first time. The world became a less harsh place simply because of the music on this album. I purchased the CD from Bandcamp and listened to it incessantly in my car, wondering how in the world I had never heard her before. Because every note, every word, every synth or fuzzed out guitar sounded like it was made especially for me--as though all the music I liked were extracted and whizzed through a blender. You can read my review of Flock here:

NDIM 11.08.21

Now Weaver is back with a brand new album that is every bit as perfect as Flock, but which utilizes all the aspects of Jane Weaver's musical personality. Every style or genre that has come under her Athena-like gaze provides fodder for either the musical style applied to a given song, or, in many cases, in small, detailed elements that may not grab a listener's attention until a few listens in.

While it can be fun to play 'find the influence' with an experimental artist like Weaver--psyfolk, Krautrock, Stereolab, synth pioneer Suzanne Ciani, and many more--you ultimately come to the place where you understand that she is a songwriter who has always been deeply invested in the sonic environment in which she performs her songs. The textures of the sonic landscape, and moods it evokes, have always been a part of her work.

2019's  Loops in the Secret Society and its resulting tour were something of a summary, bringing together the more experimental side of her work with a sense of wondering what she might be able to do next to strike into fresh territory. According to one headline she had "already established a totally unique position amongst the crate-digging hordes of vintage synth lovers and purveyors of kosmische repetition."

She decided to add more pop and dance music slant with Flock, and it paid off, creating a more abstract version of the dancing against the darkness vibe of Dua Lipa's Modern Nostalgia. To rip off Oscar Wilde (via Chrissie Hynde), she conveyed that all of us are on the dance floor, but some of us are focused on the cosmos.

Of Love in Constant Spectacle, Weaver has this to say:

“It’s about searching for joy, wanting to love and feel loved, then uncovering it in unusual places and in the smallest, hidden things in life. Magnified under rocks and stones, it explores connecting with nature and your surroundings as opposed to other people - focusing on autonomy, new beginnings and feeling bewitched.”

She has also discussed her use of subtitles and translated texts as songwriting inspiration. Those sources, like Weaver's songs, try to make something understandable when there are perhaps no words that exactly fit. Our brains try to apprehend our emotions, our hunches, the things that Kate Bush referred to as 'strange phenomena,' but it's a fool's errand.

Musically, the vibe here is less dance club, less rave, more modern pop. For example, the opener and first single, "Perfect Storm" glides along on a jittery guitar comp and an easy melody reminiscent at times of Titanic Days-era Kirsty McColl. It's a track that could easily have been heard on college radio in the early to mid-eighties.

But again, it isn't necessary to make reference to outside influence at this point in Jane Weaver's career, and that demonstrates just how successful she has been. In an era of diminished expectations for the ability of musical artists to maintain a career solely as a musician, she has accelerated as the industry failed. It could just be that now, after twenty years in the business of writing, playing, and recording music, she is peaking in a major way.

Love In Constant Spectacle is less flamboyant than Flock, less bright, more focused on the shadows. That makes sense, because we are back in the world, no longer giddy with a sense of liberation. Love In Constant Spectacle feels very much of its time, a more careful record, and also turned more inward. When there are storm clouds on the horizon, it's time to take stock and build your house on solid rock. 

Jane Weaver's music creates its own cosmology. Her mantra at the end of "Romantic Worlds"--'I love you/let's go home'--reminds me of Ram Dass' famous quote: cosmically speaking, we are all just walking one another home. The alchemy she achieves on Love In Constant Spectacle uses technology and electronic sounds to create a sonic universe that is more warm and human, rather than less. And that feels like home.

New Directions in Music is written by a single real person. It is not generated by AI. Please help spread good content by reading (Thank you!) and sharing this post with a music loving friend. If you like what you see, please sign up for a free subscription so you don’t miss a thing, or sign up for a paid subscription if you can.