Scions: To Cry Out In The Wilderness Unveiled

Scions is a Canadian musical ensemble featuring members from notable groups such as the minimalist chamber-jazz quartet New Hermitage, the Polaris-nominated drone-hymn duo Joyful Joyful, and producer/composer Michael Cloud Duguay. This is probably as near as it gets to a Canadian jazz ‘supergroup’, only hopefully without the histrionics and the crazy backstage riders that came with rock supergroups.

The group’s origins trace back to an improvised performance at the Sappyfest music festival in New Brunswick in 2022, where New Hermitage and Joyful Joyful collaborated live with Duguay. Following an enthusiastic response, the group solidified their collaboration, with Duguay transitioning to the role of producer and musical director.

In early 2023, Scions spent a week at a residency on Wolfe Island, Ontario, crafting original music through collective improvisations. Their sound draws from free jazz, experimental choral traditions, and orchestral composition, exploring themes like climate disaster, dystopia, and healing through sound. Recorded in Halifax’s historic St. George’s Round Church, their debut album To Cry Out In The Wilderness merges influences from jazz, drone, folk, and beyond.

While Joyful Joyful’s Cormac Culkeen’s vocals play a prominent role, this is truly a group effort. To Cry Out In The Wilderness incorporates each member’s unique contributions to create a bold and experimental soundscape that spans an eclectic array of musical traditions, spanning everything from the spiritual influences of Pharoah Sanders to the post-rock of fellow Canadians Godspeed You! Black Emperor, and even pushing into avant-garde territory – but don’t worry, it’s fantastic!

The opening track, ‘Moss Lung’, firmly places the album in the avant-garde arena. It starts with laboured breathing that builds into the sound of an enveloping storm. Snatches of instrumentation emerge, resembling an orchestra tuning up in an open concert hall across a tumultuous moorland landscape. It’s unsettling, yet beautiful.

‘Even When All Was Silent I Was Not Alone’ introduces vocals, with Culkeen’s delivery using their voice as an instrument, rather than your standard singing. The drawn-out effect is drone-like in intensity, as sax, harp, violin, and other elements create an emotionally charged six minutes.

‘The Mountain’ continues with mournful strings and multitracked vocals. The crashing percussion builds, evoking the feeling of a mountain collapsing, before bowed double bass brings a sense of calm. It’s like the score to a Film Noir movie that never got made.

‘To Cry Out In The Wilderness’, both the title track and the album’s spiritual heart, is close to 10 minutes long. It reflects the band’s environmental concerns, especially through a spoken-word story centred on the timber industry. Shimmering harps and electronics depict a majestic natural landscape, grounded by words that remind us of Earth’s peril.

‘Fight Song’, the album’s lead single, initially gave an incomplete impression of the album. It leans more toward almost Jefferson Airplane like folk, though it ends with an electric guitar solo and a section of distorted radio reception that builds into a powerful finale.

‘Equals In Hope’ is a superbly paced, longer piece with strings, swelling percussion, and an electronic backdrop, leading directly into the closing track, ‘Over’, a two-minute fading drone that flows seamlessly from the previous track.

This leaves this exceptionally creative album ending on a low-key note, leaving you wanting to hear more from both Scions and the individual artists who form the group.

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