This is Jordan Sand’s debut solo album. A mainstay musical freelancer on the NY music scene charting a career in the classical and neo-classical world Sand relocated to Norway in 2020 and found herself on a much more illuminating and fulfilling assignment. Now frequented by an altogether more exploratory muse Sand became fascinated by the way her voice and her bass playing entwined both sonically and organically. Rather than view the bass as a mere accompaniment to vocals now it inhabits the same air, inhales and exhales the same breath, beats as the same heart.
Baby Ghost plays out as a fully improvised song cycle focussing on that moment the body dies yet the brain hangs in limbo. It’s a profound idea for sure but Sand commits to it fully and openly, she’s completely invested in the idea. At times this music is visceral, violent and downright edgy. At others it’s beautiful, serene and deeply moving. It begins with ‘The Wet Sheet’ and ‘Let’s Go Home,’ two of the more ambient offerings here before ‘Baby With The Sail’ adds something of a Reichian feel to proceedings with its bowed motifs and classical vocal shades.
Things get way more exploratory from here on in, Sand’s voice really starts to get ‘inside’ this music, the bass sounds getting ever darker and mysterious. There are times you wonder, ‘what is that sound??’ as on ‘Pennywhistle’ where it sounds like, well you’ve guessed that one. Despite the unfamiliarity of a lot of these sounds, what is remarkable about this record is that you never feel ready to abandon the story. It’s mesmeric in that respect, Sand has managed to create something here that taps into the psyche in a way that even at its weirdest and uncanny, as on the extraordinary ‘Second Bird’ you remain rapt.
‘Skin’ or if you are following the cycle, the last moments before death, is Sand’s siren moment vocally whilst delicate and fragile notes float in the air like ash. Then comes ‘A Flat Zero,’ the end, in this moment a four-and-a-half-minute drone that even flatlines in wave form. And that’s it. Your done. The journey is complete and you slowly come around and realise it was all a dream.
Well, something like that.
Sand has made an extraordinary album here. It’s as much of a sound installation for your senses as anything else. If you are interested in where music can go, free from any inhibition, restraint, rules, or sense of conservatism then have a listen to Baby Ghost for a sense of what is possible.
Jordan Sand: Website | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | Bandcamp
Review by Del Day
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Del Day is proprietor of independent record shop Union Music Store in Lewes, DJ (Songs From The Ark) and journalist with published work in Shindig, JazzReview, CMP, Groovy Times, Americana-UK and others.