"I want to lay right here tonight / So many ways to pass the time / I want to lay right here tonight / So many choices that felt right..."
The 60's-esque Brit rock balladic diorama of "Begin Again" by the artful J Mahon, the musical project by Berlin based Australian expat Jarrod Michael Mahon, suits me just fine on the lazy slightly exasperated Sunday morning. Underneath the rattling piano chords, the vibrant shuffling drum beats, booming bass, lovely orchestrations and Mahon's comely vocal countenance is an undercurrent of melancholia, a descent into quiet places away from any societal or emotional mayhem. The aesthetic is dreadfully nostalgic, a moving presentation framed in 60's Brit pop rock allure and, in fact, I thought of Syd Barrett (circa The Madcap Laughs) as if produced by Andrew Loog Oldham (Rolling Stones), in an alternate timeline of course. Mahon not only has crafted something that takes us back but pushes us forward through some kind of artful portal. Other sonic touchstones might be early Stones and The Kinks but, in the end, it is a lovely reminder that work / art inspired by those before can sound utterly fresh and transforming.
Words about "Begin Again" from Jarrod Michael Mahon:
"I feel like there have been so many times in my life where I seem to start over, whether it’s literal location wise, genre wise, or getting clean from drugs and alcohol. Moving to Berlin from Australia at the end of 2019 was beginning again, going through the pandemic in a new country was beginning again, getting clean was beginning again and going into recovery. Whilst being clean i’ve seen so many people on their first days of sobriety while still high and then see them 30 days later and they’re clean and already their lives have changed, then 60 days, 90 days, 1 year. This song went through a lot of changes also, the original demo was from 2022 and I kept it close to me and didn’t really perform it live at all. When I took it to Syd* we turned it into what it is now. While doing a vocal take for the second verse when I talk about my dad, I started to tear up, that had never happened before. I felt so grateful that I was where I was in life and that the people I have around me now mean so much to me. I’m lucky to have been able to Begin Again, and to watch others also go through that."
*Co-produced / mixed alongside Syd Kemp (Thurston Moore, Ulrika Spacek, Spiritualised)
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM
https://jmahon.bandcamp.com/music
J Mahon is the musical project by Berlin based Australian expat Jarrod Michael Mahon. Having released 20 home recorded EP’s and albums in the past years under the moniker Emerson Snowe as a way of marking diary entries while getting clean and sober, J finally released his debut studio album under his own name in 2023. ‘Everything Has A Life' was produced alongside Syd kemp (Thurston Moore, Ulrika Spacek, Spiritualised). Heavily influenced by Sparklehorse and Daniel Johnston, Mahon creates pop songs wrapped up with chamber strings and guitar feedback. The live shows can span between a solo performance of just piano and vocals or then up to a 7 piece live band. Either everything or nothing and both performances being just as impactful. In 2024 Mahon released Gold States, a B-Side to the debut album and toured vastly throughout the UK and Europe. Performing with Speedy Ortiz and Drahla throughout Germany and performed a show at London’s Rough Trade East. In the past he has performed support tours with Ariel Pink, GUM and King Krule throughout Australia.
J Mahon, classic, indie rock, alt rock, 60's music, "Begin Again" (Official Video), Australian living in Berlin, songwriter / multi- instrumentalist, Jarrod Michael Mahon, psychedelic rock, 2nd album "Begin Again, Again",
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