27 August 2025

CRYSTAL JACQUELINE AND FRIENDS – Smoke Road (2025, 2LP Fruits de Mer Records)

RELEASE INFO:

Label: Fruits de Mer Records

Format: 2LP, Album, Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl 1

Format: 2LP, Album, Limited Edition, Colored Vinyl 2

Release Date: 15 Sep 2025

Some records creep up on you like mist over moorland — slow, strange, and spellbinding. “Smoke Road”, the latest offering from Crystal Jacqueline and Friends, is one such journey. Released on the ever-reliable Fruits de Mer Records, this double LP isn’t just another chapter in the psych-folk lineage of Jacqueline and her longtime collaborators — it’s a twilight passage through haunted verses, ghost-lit melodies, and rural visions twisted just slightly out of time.

Built around the dark, evocative poetry of David Greygoose and brought to sonic life by a collective that includes Leo O’Kelly (Tír na nÓg), Mark McDowell, Icarus Peel, Rob Gould, Jay Tausig, Mordecai Smyth, and other familiar faces from The Honey Pot universe, “Smoke Road” is far from a casual listen. It’s a slow-burning alchemy of acid folk, gothic lyricism, a kind of Gormenghast-folk soundtrack for the shadows at the edge of the lane.

“Smoke Road” is a double LP album comprising 19 tracks in total. Let’s have a look (listen):

The album starts with an a cappella invocation entitled “In The Sky And All Around”; Jacqui’s voice is pure and disarming, like the whisper at the beginning of a forgotten fairytale. A spiritual, music-less opener that gently lifts the veil. There’s delicate piano and flute in the dreamlike acoustic pop-folk gem “Barbara Ann”, Jacqui’s voice flows with warmth and grace, floating gently through a landscape that’s equal parts reverie and meadow. Guest vocals from Mark McDowell take the lead on the self-titled “Smoke Road”, with Jacqui haunting the backdrop. Hints of medieval song craft blend with glissando (or slide?) guitar and airy psychedelia. Ethereal and quietly cinematic… “Petals Of The Moon” is a male-female duet drenched in bittersweet nostalgia. This acoustic, baroque-tinted ballad feels like a forgotten folk relic — beautifully worn and quietly radiant. One of the album’s strongest moments is “The Green Man”, featuring tribal percussion, lilting flute, and a recited/spoken-word vocal by Icarus, which conjures pagan visions and ancient woods. Eco-psychedelia at its most poetic… Leo O’Kelly brings his unmistakable mystique to “The Tides That Turn”, a richly atmospheric acid-folk swirl — medieval in tone, Irish in heart. The violin soars. The whole track shimmers like candlelight on ancient stone… “Molly Mawkaby” is a mid-tempo acoustic ballad with a reverberated guitar touch. Male-female harmonies and bright flute add a whimsical folk-pop glow. Gently infectious. “Greygoose” is an instrumental interlude full of nostalgic grace. Rob Gould’s keyboards and a wistful guitar melody evoke quiet medieval courtyards and bittersweet daydreams. “Dreamwalkers” starts, and Mellotron magic from Mordecai Smyth gives this folk-pop ballad an extra layer of velvet. Jacqui’s voice is soft and tender, cradled by lyrics that hint at dream-realms and inner visions… “The Burning” is the album’s darkest spell. Spoken-word vocals hover over a creeping, ominous backdrop. Gothic and cinematic — like the soundtrack to a 70s occult film you only half-remember. There’s a lighter turn with “Flowers That Bloom”, acoustic, melodic, and touched by Jacqui’s luminous vocal charm. A hopeful breeze flows through this one, delicate and uplifting… The violin returns on “Slow The Dark Wind Blows”, adding grace and quiet drama. Jacqui’s voice glides effortlessly — this could easily be the musical soul of an Outlander episode. The bizarre “Jenny Many Names” follows, opening with crow calls and folky flute; this track is pastoral psychedelia at its best. Jacqui leads the way through a landscape both ancient and alive. “Kiss Me With Silence” is a tender Psych-Folk ballad, where Jacqui’s voice dances through the silence between words. Dreamy and introspective. “Tie Me To The Wind” is gentle psych-folk, led by acoustic guitar and carried by Jacqui’s intimate vocals, like a breeze that carries secrets through a late-summer dusk. “Elven Boy” is another folk gem — piano and guitar intertwine beneath Jacqui’s ethereal vocals. On “The Grey Light”, Mark McDowell returns for this mesmerizing male-female vocal blend. A richer, slightly proggy track with layered guitar work and a strangely cinematic, almost 80s-tinged mood… “Which Way Is The Wind” is acoustic at its core, but with acid-folk bursts that surprise and unsettle, a shape-shifting track, cool and unpredictable. The album comes to an end with “Lament”, it’s an epic closer and an emotional peak. Piano, flute, and ghostly choral touches unfold slowly into a sprawling, cinematic, psychedelic farewell. It’s mournful, mystical, and utterly beautiful — a final walk down the smoke road…

In conclusion, “Smoke Road” is a collection of songs that acts like a map of a half-lit world where folklore, dream, and memory intertwine. Crystal Jacqueline and her circle of kindred spirits have crafted a deeply personal, yet strangely universal, sonic tale; one where ancient woods still whisper, forgotten spirits still sing, and the wind still carries names long lost. “Smoke Road” is an album that dares to wander slowly, to listen to the dark wind, to follow the elven boy, to mourn with the grey light. It’s not background music. It’s a ritual. A journey. A spell. And like all true psychedelic folk, “Smoke Road” doesn’t lead you somewhere. It leads you inward… Invest… TimeLord Michalis

Tracklist

1	In The Sky And All Around	1:50
2	Barbara Ann	4:41
3	Smoke Road	3:13
4	Petals Of The Moon	4:07
5	The Green Man	6:26
6	The Tides That Turn	4:05
7	Molly Mawkaby	4:20
8	Greygoose	3:57
9	Dreamwalkers	3:27
10	The Burning	4:32
11	Flowers That Bloom	3:51
12	Slow The Dark Wind Blows	2:54
13	Jenny Many Names	3:49
14	Kiss Me With Silence	4:13
15	Tie Me To The Wind	2:33
16	Elven Boy	4:36
17	The Grey Light	4:22
18	Which Way Is The Wind	3:22
19	Lament	7:53