“Sevier” by Joy Formidable – A Song Feature

 

     Our first experience with Joy Formidable concluded when the band wreaked havoc on their instruments after announcing that they did not want to pay to transport the instruments back to Wales. It  was the final performance of that U.S. tour. It was a crowd-pleasing decision. The band again disrespects their tools in their video of “Sevier,” as vocalist Ritzy Bryan tests the ability of her guitar to withstand water torture. She splashes through what is presumably the River Sevier in Utah (where the band now resides) and then finishes by using the guitar neck to stab the riverbed.
 
      Joy Formidable flex their Rock muscles in “Sevier” after a more relaxed release in “Interval.” Both songs are from the album “Into the Blue.” The three members of The Joy Formidable are Ritzy Bryan (vocals, guitar), Rhydian Dafydd (bass, vocals) and Matthew James Thomas (percussion). While explaining “Sevier,” Bryan said:
   “The River Sevier runs 385 miles through Utah - close to where I live. It’s a metaphor for love & its journey. Are you staying in it, following it through all the seasons, cutting through mountains and canyons through all the hardships, or cutting (severing) loose? We loved the idea of water being a main element in the performance video; the churn of the waves against the calm of still water.”
 
     During the first half of “Sevier,” the song alternates between the vocals of Ritzy Bryan and heavy instrumentation from all three members of Joy Formidable. During the second half, the two components become more of a collective.
 
     “Sevier” by Joy Formidable

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thejoyformidable
Website: https://www.thejoyformidable.com/
Bandcamp:https://thejoyformidableofficial.bandcamp.com/album/into-the-blue

Lyrics of “Sevier” by Joy Formidable
Move in time together across the ways
Now I’m ready to wander that way
Those feelings on the side
That you don’t want tamed
Feel someone looking through you
 
Believe this medicine
Gives more and more
I’m not ready to go back to how it was
Believe it slowly that this could be
A different way you’re showing me
 
Coming to find that
Seven tipped star
Coming to lose time, not hold on
Those nights by the river that never go dark
Whatever way wе go I never feel lost
 
Maybe wе’ll change
Twist out of shape
That shapes it all
Right now you’re the first thought
That comes to me a different way of talking
 
Been waiting for this
Waiting for
Waking as the shoe falls
Running as it freezes more
Be there in the open
Chasing the Sevier
Chasing the Sevier
 
Been waiting for this
Waiting for
Waking as the shoe falls
Running as it freezes more
Be there in the open
Chasing the Sevier
Chasing the Sevier
Chasing the Sevier
 
The Joy Formidable Tour Dates
11.26 - Seattle, WA @ Crocodile
11.27 - Portland, OR @ Doug Fir Lounge
11.29 - San Francisco, CA @ The Independent
11.30 - Los Angeles, CA @ Roxy Theatre
12.02 - Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
12.04 - Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater
12.05 - Kansas City, MO @ Riot Room
12.07 - Minneapolis, MN @ Turf Club
12.09 - Chicago, IL @ Lincoln Hall
12.10 - Columbus, OH @ A & R Music Hall
12.11 - Pittsburgh, PA @ Thunderbird Music Hall
12.12 - Washington, DC @ 930 Club
12.13 - Boston, MA @ The Sinclair
12.14 - New York, NY @ Bowery Ballroom
12.16 - Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts
12.17 - Albany, NY @ Empire Underground
12.18 - Burlington, VT @ Higher Ground