‘Night’ is the debut album from musician and composer, Jonny Desai. His album creates relaxing, serene soundscapes and is experimental in his use of instrumentation and song structure. The sense of passion and emotion comes across clearly, both through the music and the vocals.
The album opens with Daylight. A delicate guitar melody introduces a relaxing, serene atmosphere that will continue through the rest of the album. The minimalism of this track is incredibly effective. Using only a light touch of reverb, the acoustic guitar comes into its own allowing each note to be clearly heard. It reveals Jonny’s talents as a guitarist, but also shows his creativity as a songwriter. Evening is more upbeat and has a fuller sound with the inclusion of a wider spectrum of instruments and vocals. A simple, effect constant drum rhythm keeps the track moving forward and allows the guitar melodies and vocals to take the lead. By merging a variety of guitar tones and textures, the track has a unique sound. Jonny also has a unique vocal style which really complements his chosen genre. The soft edge to his voice blends well with the clean cut sounds from the instrumentation and elaborates on the dream-like feel of the music.
Stars moves away from the energy of Evening into a predominantly dream-like sound. The presence of percussion provides some structure without being restricting to the free flowing nature of the soaring vocals and atmospheric synths. Birdsong shifts the focus from the instrumentation to Jonny’s vocals. The guitar melodies that run through this track are very emotive in themselves, but by shifting into the background it gives space for the vocals to reveal their expression. Birdsong is the shortest track on the album at only 1:32 in length, however this doesn’t negatively impact on the track. It is often more effective to allow a track to end naturally than force it to increase or decrease in length.
Dawn is particularly mesmerising. The use of strong synth melodies creates a dramatic effect, whilst Jonny’s soft, emotive vocals and guitar melodies ground the listener. The combination of textures and tones used runs the potential risk of feeling disjointed. However, the arrangement of each instrumentation section nicely balances the variety of sounds. As a result the overall track feels cohesive without losing the uniqueness of the experimentation. The theatrical elements of Cry, notably the gentle rumbles of thunder and soft patter of rain, brings an extra depth of emotion to the track. The piano and guitar melodies are gentle but also grounded and strong throughout. Jonny’s vocals layered above this instrumentation creates a soothing harmony. His falsetto voice is gentle, as it needs to be for this style of song, but is also well controlled. The title track, Night, concludes the album with an optimistic tone. The piano carries a sense of sorrow in its melody and contrasts the lead guitar and vocals which are uplifting in their nature. The layered vocals are hauntingly beautiful and enhance the instrumentation. There are fewer vocal sections in this track which works effectively, allowing the music to speak for itself.
Jonny has a clearly defined sound that is capable of adapting between minimalist styles and more dramatic sounds. His solid understanding of his instruments is clear and it has allowed him to create music that is serene and hauntingly beautiful in parts. ‘Night’ is a very strong debut album, and it will be great to see where Jonny’s music evolves in the future.
Listen to Jonny’s album ‘Night’ on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/album/0hMjrtqKansE2R5W8lyQu9?si=nbXgSolfR46imFyYXT5Ysw
Holly Royle 
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