Review Summary: Jessica Ball (Vocalist of MWWB) shines on her debut solo album Dark Light
Eye was announced as a new venture by MWWB (formerly known as Mammoth Weed Wizard Bastard)’s lead singer, Jessica Ball, back in 2021. Ball’s charmingly haunting vocals have been a key component of what makes MWWB such a reputable band in the stoner metal scene. Therefore it’s not much of a surprise to see the singer release her own project, although it drifts quite far from the sound of MWWB for the most part. Ball developed the album in the midst of lockdown during Covid and the ill health of MWWB guitarist Paul “Dave” Davies, who was fighting for his life after suffering a Covid related stroke.
The record starts off with the electro gothic folk song, ‘Window’ and makes a lasting impression espeically with the enchanting chorus, ‘break my shell, lift me up.’ Like with the remainder of the album there’s not a great deal to this song in terms of musicianship, but from what is there, there’s a certain charm that Ball’s vocals deliver. The majority of the record follows a similar sound, with a subtle but coherent backing sound, usually synths alongside simple but atmospheric chords, gracefully playing besides Balls vocals. This record shines when it’s at its simplest though, the tracks Respair, Stillness and Out Of Sight are three of the strongest songs on the album and are all based around either soft guitar picking, simple chords or a soft synth track, but because of Balls vocals each track carries a certain charming atmosphere with it.
Ball doesn’t fully let go of her doom/stoner metal roots, where you have the debut single such as ‘In Your Night’, which starts off with a slow 90’s Legend of Zelda type synth vibe, but gradually turns into an intense stoner metal track perfectly orchestrated by Ball and her entrancing vocals over heavy power chords. The other track where you get hints of MWWB is, ‘See Yourself’, which does admittedly take a bit too long to get going and when it does reach the punishing doom chords you expect, it is slightly underwhelming.
Overall for Ball’s debut solo record, In Your Night is a well rounded album that doesn’t need to be anything special musically wise, but it does what it needs to and that’s just bringing out what is best about Ball, which is her vocals and her ability to always to create a ghostly like atmosphere in every song. This album strives in its simplicity through the most part, and it’s beautifully ended with the most personal song on the record, ‘Rescue You’, in which you can feel every ounce of emotion from the delicacy in each note from Ball, where she leaves us with, ‘and I can help you, if it’s on your mind, and I can rescue you, if you give me time.’
