JOHN PAUL MASON
Overstory
For John Paul Mason, music is much more than just mere entertainment, and the collection of songs on his debut release, Overstory, which has been three years in the making, reflects his stance as a proponent of ‘spiritual activism,’ aimed at promoting connection with the natural world.
Having started writing songs whilst a working as a tour guide in Scotland, and now firmly established in the village of Comrie in Perthshire, attending a songwriting course in 2021 run by Findlay Napier and Boo Hewardine proved to be somewhat of a Damascene moment in his life, as songs inspired by the Scottish landscape, focusing upon of birds, forests, lochs, mountains, rivers and spirit, songs imbued with a personal reflection, issued forth. This deference to the natural world runs alongside a recurrent theme of how we change how we are living.
Whilst acknowledging taking musical influences from the likes of The Spell Songs, Chris Drever, Krishna Das and Will Varley, the way in which his music channels the rhythms of nature, melding passionate storytelling and a call to action, whilst “echoing the transformative power of nature and community”, calls to mind, and fully resonates with, the outstanding recent musical work from Eliza Marshall.
Alongside John Paul’s guitar and vocals, Chris Pepper, the album’s producer, contributes a multitude of instruments, whilst further guests, including Aaron Catlow, fiddle, Pete Harvey, cello & viola and Susy Wall, backing vocals, further backing vocalists, a string section and choir are also featured.
Nowhere are the stark messages inherent in his writing more clearly postulated than on ‘Forest’, which, as the opening track, establishes the route which the album follows, as the wild wood emits the symbiotic message, “You need us, we need you, Stop before you kill us and take yourselves too.” Then, with closer, the title track ‘Overstory’, the call for radical action and change is clear, “It’s time to listen, It’s time to believe….What we need is a new revolution, Based on nature’s constitution.”
With Overstory, John Paul wished to “dismantle outdated narratives” together with encouraging listeners to pause, to re-evaluate, reconnect and help them discover new ways of living in harmony with nature. It is an extremely assured and impressive debut which succeeds in inspiring such connection, equality and social justice.
Buy the CD from John's website
Overstory