Joanne Gabriel

Caterwauler

Joanne Gabriel from France is an amazing sonic artist using sound to create beauty in its purest form: That which is not really possible to describe in words. I discovered her in 2008 and I was instantly hooked.

The first song of hers that I heard was a guitar-based, shoegazey, love song called “Sorry Baby (I can’t stop crying)” and I loved the atmosphere she created with that song and her fragile, delicate voice. More recently she has been making some more experimental and soundscape based music and let me tell you. It’s magic!

I find it hypnotic, but in a way that puts me into a better mind space rather than simply "zoning out".

Much of her inspiration for these experimental journeys into sound comes from her writing too, which you can read at her blog Inner Unrest, which is really cool to read if you want to catch a glimpse of what it is that’s behind her music.

I really got into the music she created for FAWM 2010 in February. It took me somewhere I had never been before. It sounds strange, but listening to the music seemed to actually transport me into another world, where I was thinking differently. The best way I can think of to describe it was that it put me into a state that was receptive to ideas. Not just song ideas, but ideas about all sorts of great things I could create or just talk about.

So it’s no surprise then to learn that her new album "Almighty" is based on a dream she had, which sounds like it is very difficult to put into words, hence described in an abstract fashion within the music of this album. The fact that it takes me somewhere every time I listen to it is testament to how powerful it is as a work of art.

Joanne is prolific too. Going under both her real name and another: Caterwauler, you can hear loads of her stuff including the song that introduced me to her music