Sacha Whitmarsh Meets Joni Davis

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• Sacha Whitmarsh Meets Joni Davis

I only breathe in thick black smoke
For lack of air it hangs in my throat
I can see his face all wings and eyes
Teeth gnashing through flesh
Smoke blocking out the light
Joni Davis "Black Smoke"

Joni Davis steps forward and shakes my hand confidently, a broad grin on her face. Relaxed and tanned from two weeks of cycling, camping and eating in France, she's positively bubbling with enthusiasm as she greets me. Giving her husband a sweet little wave as we leave for the interview, she turns back, chatting warmly, asking me how I am, telling me about her vacation.

But this wasn't what I expected at all. I'm actually quite unsettled. Where the devil and the deep blue sea is the singer songwriter I was expecting to interview? The woman seemingly obsessed with the sinister and the cynical; author of songs about death, burying hearts and the dark side of religion. Is this woman sitting opposite me describing the joys of French cheese and macaroons really the same person?

Just then, she starts telling me how on one morning whilst in France, she was woken by an incredibly electric storm. And instantly we're back on track. As she delights in the intensity, the brooding, the flashing of the storm at its peak I tell her it sounds like perfect subject matter for one of her songs. I ask her where that dark side comes from. "Everybody has it," she begins, "everybody's got that part of them and it's actually quite moving to me: the darker stuff. I'm moved by the sadness in the world and I express it in the things I write, because you write about what inspires you, what's moving to you".

"I guess it's just relating to the sad side of things quite easily. It's having empathy for that kind of stuff and I've always had that. It's not like I've been depressed in life, I've always had a strong sense of the sadness in the world". This much is clear. Joni Davis' songs are most definitely dark; her deep, powerful voice as intense as her lyrics; resonating over strong, simple piano. Think Carole King shaken with Nina Simone and poured by PJ Harvey. If you like your piano seventies singer-songwriter style, your voices large, low and dour and your reverb heavy, you'll love this.

Also See: ilikemusic.com

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