Scarred and Sacred moves with the feeling of something remembered rather than performed, embracing reverence and unrest in the same breath.
Meanjin-based poet and musician SOLCHLD delivers her debut album, Scarred and Sacred. Backed by pianist and composer Callum Pask, bassist Julia Beiers, drummer Ryan Hammermeister and trumpeter Tristan Rogers, the record brings together spoken-word poetry and improvisational jazz, tracing old wounds with a gentle but steady hand.
SOLCHLD’s ability to blend societal critique into an exploration of personal growth and development, speaks to our collective struggle and the rich storytelling tradition passed down through her Arrernte and Jamaican heritage. Her work speaks to the “Mountains of my own grief”, the universal feelings which we all experience, individually.
From the opener “Tread Lightly”, the group eases into a searching rhythm that leaves room for SOLCHLD’s deliberate delivery. Themes of ancestry, faith, and resistance appear organically throughout the record. The rhythmic repetition in “My Nana Is a Pelican” compliments the piece’s theme of communal lineage, while Tristan Rogers’ trumpet in the final track “I Am Nature” moves with powerful spoken passages in something akin to a conversation that builds toward an emotional release.
The album maintains a restraint that invites reflection. It avoids neat conclusions and lets tension and hesitation remain. The result feels ritualistic and lived-in, asking the listener to sit with it rather than move past it. In the spirit of the experimental poetry and jazz of Moor Mother, Scarred and Sacred rewards patience and close listening.
Words by Emad Al-Hatu