the modernistically inventive Monique Barry & single time

by | Music, Music Reviews, New Music

Time, the latest track by Monique Barry, wafts in, somewhat nervous breathing mixed with delicate, wistful piano notes that blend into high vocal sighs.

Her vocal line comes in straight and almost too present; it turns, for me, the song into something that you would imagine someone in a theatre musical issuing; the lights going down and the spotlight shining on the solitary figure; it’s a construct that leaves me slightly unsure if she’s using the blend of this untreated, almost too present voice and other odd, echoed voices that blur in and out from the edges to mix a naive playfulness with a disjointed refutation of the repeated line, that time heals all thingsโ€ฆyou end up with the sense that time hasn’t healed all things, and more specifically, hasn’t healed whatever hurt is at the centre of this song. 

a disjointed refutation of the repeated line, that time heals all things

Modernistically inventive, Monique has been praised for being โ€œhighly ambitious when it comes to integrating musical styles,โ€ (Artwork Artbar) and singled out for her โ€œpure and ethereal voiceโ€ฆthat frames emotionally eloquent compositions that dig deep lyrically and feature adventurous arrangements.โ€ (New Canadian Music).

a keen willingness to experiment with musical forms and ambient elements

She has consistently demonstrated a keen willingness to experiment with musical forms and ambient elements, an approach that has fed and strengthened her intriguingly distinctive persona. โ€œThere is something about this womanโ€™s voice (and) presenceโ€ฆDifferent, surreal, artistically vague yet deep in its layer of sounds and meaning.โ€ (American Pancake)

Monique has forged a style that marries the everyday to the otherworldly, resulting in musical dreamscapes teeming with innovations, oddities, emotional echoes, and the many stops and starts along the human journey. She is presently releasing her fifth album, HAAK, single by single. Time is the 8th single in the series.

Time is a delicately atmospheric exploration of loss and connection. The piece is a response to the perils of dealing with COVID. A structured soundscape of the cycle of thoughts and emotions that prevailed during the pandemic, Time is not out for a quick return but rather is designed to evolve in its own time.

Find Monique Barry on Soundcloud| Monique Barry’s website

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