allysha joy: torn : tonic
Francisco Espregueira
Following her debut album, Acadie : Raw (2018), and as lead vocal in the impressive output by the 30/70 Collective, Allysha Joy drops a new record, this time around via First Word Records. Torn : Tonic pulls us into a 10 track journey that weaves through the multiplicity of letting go, standing tall, and creating space all at once. As per usual, the singer, performer, poet and producer delivers a soulful and unfiltered work that is lyrically compelling and sonically complex. Touching the right spots, with a rhythm that is clearly hers, Allysha’s voice flows over an exquisite production work comprised of shuffling broken grooves and exquisite celestial melodies.
There are healthy swathes of skippy neo-soul boom bap sensibilities, entwined with stark swing-laden electronic percussion, Detroit-esque sun-saturated synths, and Antipodean bruk backbeats. Although Torn : Tonic is entirely produced by Joy, she is far from alone, inviting in an array of female and non-binary artists, such as Ego Ella May, Rara Zulu, BINA and others, to bless assorted tracks with their own unique gifts. The album expands track by track with a message that conveys power in embracing change, hope and diversity. Crossing-genres, embodying generational stories, Allysha Joy’s artistic vision reaches levels of supreme maturity with every single track being exposed with a purpose that sits at the intersection of a feminist manifesto of Joy's momentous leap as an artist, and her exploration of what it means to be human in today's capitalist-driven world. Available on vinyl, courtesy of First Word Records.
“It is looking directly into the shadow of pain and overcoming it with joy. No love songs! Just social, political, emotional anthems for change! It is the first record I have produced entirely on my own and it feels like that perseverance that I have consistently had to conjure up is embedded in this music, overcoming my own conditioning in a society and industry that constantly tells me I can’t, so I must”