Jarboe - Indemnity Album

The CD release Indemnity 1 was the first in a trilogy featuring re-interpretations of songs by Swans and World Of Skin plus some composed exclusively for the project and one co-written with Michael Gira.

Indemnity 1 contains atmospheric classical pieces and some would say alt-folk. The exquisite arrangements result in melodious and rhythmic metamorphoses. Despite the prominence of keyboards and percussion, the music has symphonic qualities arising from the harmonics generated by Jarboe’s layered vocals.

The originals re-interpreted on this album appear on Children of God, White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity and The Great Annihilator by Swans, and Ten Songs From Another World by World of Skin.

This version of the voice and piano masterpiece Blood Promise contains greater melodic and harmonic depth than the original (The Great Annihilator 1994) due to the backing vocals and hypnotic clock-like percussive pattern.

The original Blackmail (A Screw EP 1986, Children of God 1987) is an early Swans classic comprising of Jarboe’s haunting voice accompanied only by delicate piano. This multi-voiced approach with powerful instrumentation effects a total transfiguration.

The many voices of Jarboe, in an intriguing arrangement with startling instrumental flourishes, similarly lend a fuller sound to the original fragile In My Garden on Children of God where spare piano shifted into ambient atmospherics.

Another triumph is The Miracle Of Love (originally on White Light From The Mouth Of Infinity (1991). The uptempo arrangement, lively drumming and rolling piano blend perfectly with angelic vocals and a jangling background drone. An intricate keyboard pattern rounds it off.

Please Remember Me from Ten Songs From Another World is transfigured by contralto background humming, extraordinary layered vocals and screeching feedback. The voice is the pivotal element. Cascades of soprano and reverb likewise render You're Not Real Girl virtually unrecognizable.

The impressive quality of this interpretation of the murder ballad Blood And Honey derive from the juxtaposition of soprano and contralto, a wall of sound effect and the concluding spooky whispers. The closest to a rock song here is an original, the title track Indemnity, a highly melodic composition sung in a lower register with a different instrumental approach.

The album concludes with the majestic My Tall Man (Live), co-written by M. Gira but never released before. As dark love ballads go, this tuneful elegy with its dreamy ambiance is a poetic masterpiece. On a par with the most memorable Swans / World of Skin ballads sung by Jarboe on albums such as Blood, Women, Roses, The Burning World and Love of Life.

Indemnity 1 and 2 are outstanding accomplishments. The project does not merely breathe new life into old classics, in most cases it surpasses the concept of the ‘cover version’ to create entirely new, magnificent music.