Music Spot: Jesse Joy - Warmth

From time to time, we shine the spotlight on a SoundGym member by reviewing one of their releases for our Music Spot feature. In celebration of the fact that we are adding his music to our SoundCoins Store, we are going to take an in-depth look at Jesse Joy’s track, ‘Warmth’.

Jesse Joy is a mix and mastering engineer as well as a recording artist, and you can really hear that in the level of skill and attention to detail found in the mixes of his music. As an artist he is primarily a folk musician, creating delicate, intricate compositions on guitar and cello. Often his compositions feature stacked melodic vocals too, but here we are going to focus on one of his instrumental tracks.

‘Warmth’ first saw the light of day in 2020, but was re-released as part of the Release EP in late 2022. The song’s title prepares you exactly for what you are going to get; rich, melodic guitar figures that positively shimmer with warmth. There is an intricacy to Joy’s fingerpicking guitar work that is captured beautifully in this recording. This is guitar as gold filigree; ornate and sparkling. 

The undulating melodic figure at the center of the piece draws you in, and without vocal accompaniment sets a meditative mood. A contrasting texture of layered harmonics increases the complexity of the sound world that Joy invokes, and rewards repeated listens – the interplay between the parts is a pleasure to experience. The mood is bittersweet, almost somber at times, but gently uplifting too. 

If you want to hear more from Jesse Joy, you can check him out on Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube. You can follow him on Instagram, TikTok and Facebook where as well as news about his music, you will also get tips on mixing and mastering. Finally, you can listen to other projects that he has worked on over on his website.