A soundtrack to a film that doesn’t exist, The Joy Hotel are worth settling in for post-credits.
Born from the east end of Glasgow roots, The Joy Hotel were aware to those only within the Scottish DIY scene. Now, their ambitious project hits the big screens with dazzling magnificence.
Born and bred during the heat of the pandemic, then recorded live to tape at the infamous Rockfield Studios, Ceremony is everything right now.
Cultivated from the garage tit-bits of Arctic Monkeys’ psychedelic-60’s The Car and the sprawling balladry of The Last Dinner Party playing Bridgeton-baroque pop, The Joy Hotel is nothing but the epilogue to the bouts of these songwriting sensibilities as they try to resist that incessant urge to being oh so dramatic.
Where the similarities end however, is when we can begin to understand that this album is meant to be enjoyed in full; as we glide effortlessly without a mere mention or pause. A tense conversation moving from lobby to suite, with enough charm and deep red to forget whatever the hell it was you began talking about, Ceremony is one thing and then it’s another, all representing a story with marginal coherence when you head manages to clear.
Built on custom of routine, Ceremony is a bird fanning its wings, celebrating the sake of just being alive in an ever-turning world of uncertainty. The 56-minute debutante encapsulates every leap forward and roadblock in life, as the pillars of hope, regret, love and the undulating passage of time scintillate and scorn a tipsy hour of old school exasperation. Whether it’s from the woozy dialogue of a guest at the hotel bar, we can’t be too sure.
From the intimacy of Black Balloon to the surging prophecy-bearing Jeremiah to their brightest burn with Old Man’s Eyes, it’s remarkably twee and astoundly significant all the same. Rapid Eye Movement exposes its lengthy art rock departure, while First Joy is the first taster to its lounge music. For many, it can be a lot who are seeking short thrills and quick chorus quips. But for the few remaining, it’s a marvel to wash down.
Drawn from a group who have very much earned the accolade of mature songwriting, Ceremony is a wonderful backdrop to a yearning world. It transpires that The Joy Hotel may be going places.
manvmusic.com 
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