Released on the 17th November, the fifth year anniversary of his Mothers passing, ‘Mother Echo’ is Rael Jones’ first new album after his hugely successful debut record, ‘Mandrake’.
Rael Jones is a very talented composer and multi-instrumentalist, best known for his film and television scores. He has been nominated for three primetime Emmys; a World Soundtrack award, and won a Golden Reel Award.
He’s also written the music for dramas such as ‘My Cousin Rachel’ and, most recently, BBC’s ‘The Salisbury Poisonings’, which was viewed by 10 million people in its first week. He has also collaborated with both Oasis and Coldplay.
‘Mother Echo’ is an incredibly personal album, written for piano and string quartet; he also plays alongside his heavily pregnant wife, Sara Wolstenholme, which in itself adds to the multitude of emotions we witness in the album.
“This is a deeply personal album for me. I’m attempting to translate emotions and life events into musical structures. My mum was in a car crash when I was six. She spent a lot of time after that in bed with whiplash and presumably depression. I was terrified she wouldn’t be there anymore. For instance, she asked me, “would you rather have a mummy in bed like this or not have a mummy at all?”
“The artwork is based on a recurrent nightmare I had around this time – I’m alone in my house being dragged inexplicably towards a strange figure – death in human form. It touches my shoulder, our feet lift off the ground, and we fly through the lounge, past my gathered relatives, and out of the bay window….at which point I wake up. The cover shows what lies past that window. It’s not so scary after all”
The music is so deeply powerful and full of nostalgia, grief, and messages from his life journey. Rael Jones has managed to capture the hardship of losing a parent under such tragic circumstances and create music that is so beautiful in the process. The calming nature of the tracks gives the listener a real sense of security, especially if the listener has been through grief themselves, while the music itself brings feelings motherly love which just about anyone can relate to.
‘Mother Echo’ is a deeply affecting album, charged with emotion but with great melodic flair and depth. The tracks on the record are based upon poignant moments from Rael’s journey with his mum:
“We scattered my mother’s ashes in the river at a place called ‘The Valley of Desolation’ (track 9). We placed old passports in her coffin to assist her on her metaphysical journey, as she would have it (track 10). And so on and so on”
Jone’s latest work is overall an incredibly reflective, thoughtful and emotionally powerful album carved out of the love and loss of Rael Jones’ Mother. Rael has turned a horrific and life-altering event into a beautiful album, sharing with us his deepest emotions.
Written by Francesca Bass
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