Tenci

GENRE: folk/alternative LABEL: Keeled Scales 2022

Blackberry Farm; a farm turned family center in Aurora, Illinois, was a place of early childhood development for me. In our matching overalls and denim baseball caps, there are an abundance of pictures of my little brother and I with our mom at this farm. We often indulged in the attractions of miniature pony rides, the anticlimactically slow carousel, and the steam engine train that was conducted by a likely alcoholic. But at that age, bubbles and chalk were all we cared about. In the back of the farm, next to the, now questionable, “settler” house and period-actor with the weaving loom, was an old well. It was too dark to see how far it went down and the top was barred off to prevent fidgety kids from finding out. But it was wide enough for us to wish on a penny and drop it in with every visit. 

            On their sophomore album, A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing, Chicago’s own, Tenci, create a space of empathy and self-rejuvenation to find understanding in what it means to be human. Jess Shoman, the primary songwriter of Tenci, expands on their 2020 release My Heart is an Open Field, which focuses on themes of loss and loneliness. On A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing, Shoman returns to these themes, but with the perspective of mature growth and understanding. 

            Tenci has always built instrumentations around the use of Shoman’s unique voice, which is often used as an instrument itself. On this album, Shoman uses influences of psychedelic folk artists such as Jessica Pratt and Michael Hurley to create a fit-for-a-movie landscape of sparse and airy folk tunes. But like Shoman’s voice, the band comes in and out with a method of accent points. The rest of Tenci consists of Izzy Reidy, Curtis Oren, and Joseph Farago, who all have respective musical projects of their own. The band’s use of instruments all play a part in the compositions and are strategically picked to tell the story. On songs such as “Be”, it begins with a simple and synchronized guitar riff. Just as Shoman growls the word “be”, the band erupts into a controlled burn of a screeching saxophone solo by Curtis Oren while maintaining the subtleness of the song underneath. This song early in the album showcases Shoman’s new complex approach to songwriting that goes beyond the illustrated emptiness that was My Heart Is An Open Field. This new conflicting orchestration is then showcased in “Sour Cherries”, where Shoman’s folky stylings are challenged by a subtle growing amplification of the band until chaos unfolds of squealing saxophone and swoops and howls of Shoman’s voice. 

            As mentioned in the bio of A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing on Bandcamp, there are multiple meanings of the word “well” that could be considered in Shoman’s storytelling. The most obvious form of “well” is the old fashion way of getting water and making wishes. “Well” is also the most benign way of answering small talk questions about how you are doing. It is also the easiest way to kill further questions about how you are actually doing. 

            A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing does the small talk for Shoman. This project has many instances that showcase Shoman’s personal growth since My Heart Is An Open Field. “Climb to the top of the magic tree, I’ll show you how I’m changing”, is how Shoman starts off on “Shapeshifter”, laying out what is to be the rest of the album. On the track “Vanishing Coin”, Shoman sings about the odd disappearances of friendships as they get older. With an accompanying music video of Shoman as a party magician, adult relationships can often vanish with no reason like a magic trick. In the almost fully acoustic “Great Big Elephant”, Shoman sings “we should just throw it down the well”. A simple and old-fashioned way to get rid of something. In this case it’s something that Shoman has been holding on to for too long and needs to accept that it is gone. 

            As a kid, I can’t remember if I believed that tossing a coin down a well would make my wish come true. Although it’s probably a front for well owners to profit off the moldable minds of the youth, it is a nice sentiment. Even if the forces of the world don’t work directly with the coinage-to-well business, there is an idea that whatever you wish for on that coin is a small representation of who you are at that time. With Shoman’s notion of moving on and growing up from past experiences and relationships, there is a well overflowing of small representations ranging from their entire life. In the second to last song, and one of Tenci’s best, “Two Cups”, Shoman repeatedly sings “I won’t wait to fill my cup”. A realization that self-inflicted progression is the only way to accept the past and that filling your well with pieces of past experiences is never a bad thing. With a playful sing along chorus, it is almost a direct feeling of surrendering to your past and allowing that to shape who you are. 

The legacy of family is a consistent point of topic throughout the album as well. With nursery-rhyme like songs of animals and clowns, Shoman brings up integral childhood emotions that still follow them to this day. In “Sharp Wheel ”, Shoman sings about being scared in their bedroom, but from fear that they deserve it, won’t seek the comfort of their parents. “Swallow Me Whole, Blue ” is a traumatic story about some neighborhood kids poisoning Shoman’s mom’s childhood dog. “I want to pet you from the inside ”, is Shoman’s way of wishing Blue was still here in order to protect their mother’s bad memories. The album’s closer, “Memories” utilizes audio from recovered home video of Shoman’s childhood, including conversations with their grandmother in Spanish and the screams of fear from encounters with bugs. “Memories” is pretty on-the-button, but it is still impossible not to feel a sense of nostalgia while closing out the album. 

            Thinking back to my own memories of dropping coins in the well at Blackberry Farm can also be considered extremely on-the-button, but is there anything wrong with that? These memories bring me back to early childhood development of relationships with my family as well as with nature and wildlife. There are parts of me from that time that have remained, while there are parts that I have gotten rid of since. What Tenci does is create an album around a celebration of self-rejuvenation from your past.  Especially after an album focused on grief, this new focus on A Swollen River, A Well Overflowing creates a relatable feeling of nostalgia, both through trauma and gratitude. 

By Shea Roney

Tenci Information:

https://tenci.bandcamp.com/album/a-swollen-river-a-well-overflowing-2