Aus­tralian singer-song­writer and pianist for Matthew Houck, aka Phos­pho­res­cent, Jo Schornikow has cre­at­ed an album of alt Amer­i­can indie which ‘explores the com­plex­i­ties and lone­li­ness of moth­er­hood’. Our first peep is this beau­ti­ful track called Visions. The new album is called Altar, to be released on May 20, via Keeled Scales.

With woozy, rever­by gui­tars and its hushed vocals, Visions sends you deep down into a calm space. This is an intense and deeply per­son­al work. Schornikow’s vocals have a wist­ful, touch­ing and vul­ner­a­ble qual­i­ty and there’s a def­i­nite sense of a War on Drugs influ­ence with that propul­sive dri­ve under­pin­ning it. I hope this soul­ful track gets some air­play in the UK.

I was delight­ed that research into Jo Schornikow lead me to dis­cov­er Phos­pho­res­cent – aka Matthew Houck, a remark­able singer-song­writer and Jo’s part­ner. Take time out to lis­ten to Song for Zula , emo­tion-laden and exquis­ite­ly melan­cholic with a Dylanesque touch. 

Jo Schornikow’s life has involved plen­ty of trav­el: she was born in Mel­bourne, brought up in New York and is now based in Nashville. There has also been plen­ty of tour­ing around the world with ​​Houck. Visions and the upcom­ing album reflects her loss of self amidst bring­ing up chil­dren. Hence the ‘Altar’ in the album title: spot those items on top of her piano? They make up her own per­son­al altar, a reflec­tion of all her dif­fer­ent ‘selves’.

The accom­pa­ny­ing video to Visions was shot under a sur­prise severe weath­er warn­ing at a small-town Ten­nessee fair, and was direct­ed by Noah Han­son.
Also Gourmet­gigs review of Jo Schornikow Lose Your Love 

Jo Schornikow’s album Altar is on my Albums of the Year list

Web­site: Jo Schornikow
PRE-ORDER LP HERE