Photos by Hannah Thiem
Arc Iris’ music spoke volumes to the tightly packed crowd at their NYC album release show at Mercury Lounge last night — the whimsical, visceral and raw songs drawing huge appeal. The auteur, Jocie Adams, former core member of renowned indie-folk band The Low Anthem, moved fluidly from vocals to piano to clarinet to guitar, all while leading the 8-piece ensemble through complex and lengthy songs. Dressed in a gold spandex bodysuit, the rest of the band in various sequined and colorful accents, Adams seemed to lose herself completely in the music, while remaining entirely hyper-connected to the full ensemble. Indeed, nearly every musician on stage played a few different instruments throughout the concert, and the broad sweeping musical arcs lent themselves well to spontaneous innovation.
The music felt fresh and exciting, with seemingly surprising and unexpected twists. The song that stood out most began with Adams on clarinet playing a complex rhythmic piece with perfectly matched counter-rhythmic accents by Robin Ryczek on cello and Zach Tenorio-Miller on piano. The song was then built into a blown-out folk rock number, perfectly executed along the way. Arc Iris returned to the stage after a clamorous demand for an encore, announcing the song “Honor of the Rainbows”, which apparently they only play to audiences who REALLY love them. I could see why, as it starts incredibly simply, with just the cello introducing a few notes, sliding into a super slow-building, brooding masterpiece of a song.