#FeatureFriday UNRAVELLED: The Elegies by JJ Lovegrove

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UNRAVELLED: The Elegies by JJ Lovegrove

 

I’ve said before, that there is something incredibly appealing about JJ Lovegrove’s music that I can’t really describe. But I’ll try nonetheless!
One thing that stands out about this EP, is that there is an escalation happening over the course of the runtime; just noticeable, but very delicate. Each track adds a little intensity until it reaches it’s hight in the penultimate song “Foolish Things”, only to keep it at that level while stripping back some instrumentation for the finale. In my book, this is excellent sequencing and storytelling; taking the listener on a journey through various emotional states and upping the ante at the same time.

The mix is aiding in the storytelling as well, constantly moving instruments to the foreground, while keeping space open for the real star of the show: JJ’s vocals. Her voice is the definition of haunting; light, warm, aspirated, but with depth and just the smallest hints of amazing power behind it. She sounds like she is purposefully holding back, in order to be as gentle as possible; almost to the point of sounding fragile, like the emotion behind the lyrics could burst out at any moment. Considering that the topics of the songs are about deeply hurtful things people do to each other, her restraint feels very appropriate and says more than words would be capable of.

It is hard to classify “Unravelled”. The closest genre I can think of would be dream pop with strong gothic and classical influences, but I feel that is not enough to describe the rawness of the sound and the emotion behind it. What I am certain of, is that this is a piece of art that should be experienced by people that want music they can feel, as much as they can hear it. It’s absolutely beautiful, honest and heartfelt, and what more can someone want from music?

Florgoth

There’s this thing called, “Altitude-Adjusted Lachrymosity Syndrome”, it’s usually attributed to watching films on planes, films that may have an emotional element. It basically puts forward the idea that the viewer can  becomes more emotional than usual due to the confines of the space they are in. This is why I struggled this week with this EP, I have been drifting into a melancholic state for a few months and then I tipped through into a space I know too well but do not want to be in. Memories become like water, they get everywhere. My first attempted listen was broken by the opening track, it tells you what you are in for. As it moves into the next track I abandoned ship.

Too raw, too honest. Too emotional.

I took away with myself and pondered what creativity is. Big question for someone stuck in a place with no thoughts. Over the next few days I would play a track and think about creativity and what makes good art. I think it come down to this, Truth, Empathy, Curiosity and sometimes pain, anger, joy. Always an emotion.

I finally made my way through, UNRAVELLED: The Elegies by JJ Lovegrove and it’s a beautifully recorded and performed musical piece. It drips with emotion, and honesty. The talent is there for all to hear. On another day, week I might have worded this in a less self absorbed way but the sentiments hold.

Totally recommend.

Untidy Music

 

The piano, it’s quite the omnipresent instrument in music both modern and of the past and it seems to be the instrument of choice for Feature Friday artist of this week JJ Lovegrove as well. Straight off the bat though, she manages to differentiate herself from the glut of virtual pianos out there as these particular recordings of said instrument just ooze with character. Character that from what I can hear comes from having been meticulously recorded in the room so that it carries a sense of natural ambience that lifts the instrument to another level. It doesn’t sound clean and sterile because of it as there is that layer of warm noise saturating it with that aforementioned character. And in times where music production happens almost exclusively on the computer this feels like a breath of fresh air to me. It feels like the type of music that used to be ubiquitous in music, the pop charts even, but seems to become rarer and rarer as analog recording methods are put to the side in favour of digital perfection and convenience. It’s the difference between a Van Gogh that’s displayed on a monitor or painted on an imperfectly non-smooth canvas. Both are beautiful pieces of art in the end but the one on the canvas just has that added texture… character.

But the canvas alone does not a good artist make, but let me tell you that JJ paints on her canvas of choice in the most beautiful strokes. Even as a layman I can obviously tell how skillfully played these compositions are. Compositions that sound heartbreakingly beautiful just as JJ’s vocals which beautifully oscillate on the verge of fragility and powerfulness which fits perfectly in the whole ‘girl and her piano’ dynamic that feels naked, exposed and honest. That dynamic though opens up in its final moments with a song that includes a full band-like arrangement that kind of echoes the work of Kate Bush in its vibe feeling like a long lost recording of an 80’s artist. And by that I don’t mean to say that it feels dated or like mere nostalgia-pandering, far from it. In fact this brings me back to what I said before about these types of recordings feeling like something of a lost art nowadays and it’s that exposed frailty that it offers that reminds me of those older records. Because, the songs themselves feel timeless in my book.

And now that I mentioned the queen, Kate Bush, I have to mention this slight Gothic edge that the songs here have to them. Not overtly Gothic as in a Siouxsie or Bauhaus but in a more subtle way reminiscent of the aforementioned Kate Bush or a Tori Amos. There’s that flirting with a darker romantic feel present here without veering off into the dark gloom of it. It all makes for a beautiful record that really touched and moved me.

Eveyweveydevey

Updated: May 22, 2026 — 7:26 am

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