Ashleigh Bo – Nana Joy (2020)
The grieving process can bring forth creativity in a lot of people and Ashleigh Bo is one of them. In the months following her grandmother’s passing, she wrote ‘Nana Joy’ which explores the complex nature of grandmother, mother and daughter. Rising from the grieving process, the single reflects on the charisma and seductive nature of women. Threaded into this is a perilous confusion that ripples its way along her compelling performance.
Rolling effortlessly like the hills of the hinterland, the track collects cold reverberations and twanging guitars. It also continues Bo’s reflections on love, connection, regret and loss which she infuses with musical stylings inspired by Winehouse, Dylan and Angel Olsen. Vulnerable yet powerful is the best way to describe the honest storytelling she embodies.
‘Nana Joy’ twangs to life with a country-folk flair that has an easy yet deep feeling. You can hear a sense of sadness resting in the low tones of the guitar as it meanders across your senses and draws you into the vocals. Within these notes are a nostalgia and melancholy that you can’t get away from. All of this combines with a vulnerability that makes you focus on the vocals and lyrics to hear more about the emotions that the music evokes.
Bo’s vocals have a powerful flow as she delicately collects her thoughts on the nature of women. As she considers this nature, she also works through the grieve and loss related to death. It is a very interesting track that touches on so many topics but wraps them all in a neat bundle of country-folk goodness. Her performance is effortless as it creeps into your chest and fills you to the brim with various emotions.
Ashleigh Bo turns the grieving process into a reflection on the nature of women, death and confusion in ‘Nana Joy’. The country-folk melody fills you with melancholy, nostalgia and vulnerability. The vocals enhance these emotions through a compelling performance.
Find out more about Ashleigh Bo on her Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
