Scarlet Joy are a Lincolnshire-based rock trio who have featured on our blog a few times now through their singles Rescue, Cut Diamond and Queen and Thief. All three tracks feature on their debut album Mourning Pages.
By Graeme Smith
Feature photo by Greg Smith
Collectively, Scarlet Joy are inspired by grunge and alternative rock acts like Nirvana, Hole and PJ Harvey, but frontwoman Sophia Woodcraft also took inspiration for this album from a meditative practice devised by Julia Cameron called “morning pages.” In the title of the album, Sophia spun things to look at the idea of loss and letting go, be it the good or the bad, and that’s the ethos of this collection.
It opens with Lost at Sea. A gentle, a Capella intro quickly evolves into a lively rock arrangement that hits hard and sets a vibrant early tone. Sophia’s vocals are as captivating as we’ve come to expect and the track is completed with a big finish. It’s a great start.
The aforementioned Rescue comes next. Having originally shared it in September, its inclusion here proved a timely reminder of what a smashing track it is. Sophia’s guitar, Tom Latham’s bass and Drew Moore’s drums are perfectly synch during a heavy intro and the pressure doesn’t let up throughout.
Cut Diamond and Queen and Thief round off the album’s first part, providing trips into classic rock and stripped-back acoustic rock respectively. At this point it became clear that Scarlet Joy have a lot of different sides to their sound, but the album had lost none of its cohesion as a result.
The album’s midpoint is Enough is Enough. It’s a dark and grungy highlight with hints of psychedelia and some rousing drums and riffs. Kiss It All Goodbye keeps the psychedelia and grunge, and feels rich with metaphor in its lyrics. Leaving Footprints is punchy up-tempo piece of indie rock that will stir the blood in your veins. It’s another highlight.
Golden is the album’s penultimate track and it slows things down a bit with gently plucked acoustic guitar before Another World then rounds things off. At over five minutes long, it marks an expansion of the Scarlet Joy sound and brims with a pop rock style akin to Foo Fighters.
Scarlet Joy are a fantastic addition to the British rock scene, and it’s a lovely bonus that they hail from not far away. This debut album is such a statement from them, showcasing the various sides of their sound while staying cohesive around a well-thought-out central theme. Mourning Pages is a must listen for rock fans and you can check it out below.
