June McDoom intrigues with the dub-reggae-folk hybrid of Follow the Light

Ethereal. Hazy. Weightless. Dreamy. All these apply. But the way the heavy-lidded, reverb-laden drift of shoegaze aesthetic and vintage psych-folk melt into more robustly earthy reference points is what makes June McDoom's debut album truly intriguing. Growing up in a Jamaican household in South Florida, McDoom was surrounded by reggae and dub (as well as earlier incarnations of Jamaican music, such as mento) throughout her childhood, and it shows. Although she's a folk-oriented songwriter – at least nominally, in the modern definition of the term where everyone with an acoustic guitar and an introspective gift for melodic soul-baring gets branded ‘folk’ – you’re never far from the hallmarks of dub reggae on Follow The Light. Sturdy, fluid basslines are often placed front and centre in the mix, and there's an echo chamber-frequenting habit of chopping and twisting sound at play throughout; see how McDoom’s multilayered vocals overlap like waves on opener “Human Angel”, for example. Working with long-term partner Evan Wright, who plays most of the instruments, freeing McDoom to layer multiple vocal harmonies, she applies this robust rhythmic foundation to an aesthetic that combines ...