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Jessamine Barham

Jessamine Barham exhumed a ‘Shallow Grave’ to speak on the violent oppression of women in her latest single.

Posted on 12 October 2023

Jessamine Barham released her most striking single to date when she read the harrowing tale in her latest single, Shallow Grave. The haunting vocal harmonies atop the staccato acoustic guitar strings and as the centrefold within the quiescent orchestral swells of chamber pop strings brought the solemnity within Shallow Grave to spectral life in a way that assures us that even though Jessamine Barham’s dark pop stylings are niche, her talents of a sonic narrator of feminine tragedy should never be underestimated.

The days of the Salem witch trials and being sectioned with hysteria may be behind us, but the violent oppression of women will always be a tale as old as time. It was no feat of hyperbole to lyrically infer that feminine acts of rebellion can incur the death penalty. Some may say hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, but life hath no tyranny like the men determined to keep us chastised.

Shallow Grave was officially released on September 24; stream it on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jessamine Barham melodised marionette melancholy in her compelling vignette, Puppet Girl

Posted on 21 September 2023

Every time the dark indie folk singer-songwriter Jessamine Barham turns her creativity to the composition of a new baroquely imaginative piano score, complete immersion in her archaic vignettes is non-optional.

In her seminal avant-garde single, Puppet Girl, the San Diego-hailing artist melodied marionette melancholy by inviting you into a world of powerlessness, subjugation, and betrayal.

Taking the single at face value, you will enjoy a jaunty Evelyn Evelyn-esque cabaret tune; look a little deeper at what is written between the lines, and you will lock into an exposition on the limitations life can find a way of imposing on us. No matter how free we think we are, we all come with strings attached, making Puppet Girl a resonantly dark reflection of reality.

Puppet Girl is now available to stream on YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

In an act of divine imagination Jessamine Barham advocated for carnival performers in her anachronistic single, Freak Show

Posted on 19 August 2023

In an act of complete ingenuity driven by compassion and divine imagination, Jessamine Barham advocated for the rights of performers in carnivals in her aptly carnivalesque single, Freak Show.

While AHS Freak Show gave a view into the exploitation of performers when it aired on our screens in 2014, it didn’t even come close to cutting to the bone as sharply as the lacerating lyrical volition in Freak Show.

Sure, the waltzy, anachronistic cabaret instrumentals cushion the blow and add a jaunty air of playfulness to the release, but there is no escaping the revelation that everyone who has ever attended a show that parades deformity and disability participated in a sick and twisted session of voyeurism. If you love Amanda Palmer, you’re going to fall head over heels for Freak Show.

Roll up to the Freak Show by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

The One: Jessamine Barham just wants to escape from this hell on Bow Down

Posted on 8 October 2022

Sensing that she needs to get away from a selfish lover who isn’t able to comprehend how poorly they’re acting, Jessamine Barham is in top form with a sensational single that will find your heart beating faster on Bow Down.

Jessamine Barham is a San Diego, California-based indie dark pop/folk singer songwriter who performs with a tenacious edge that will get you listening intently.

Sizzling with a final goodbye wave to the past, which shall echo from the rooftops, Jessamine Barham is a brave soul who has courageously let us into her deepest emotions. Closing the door on someone who showed their devilish side too often, we are shown a story about having the self-love to walk away before it’s too late.

Bow Down from San Diego, California-based indie dark pop/folk singer songwriter Jessamine Barham is a brave single that will get you dusting off the self-doubts. Sung with a real earnestness that will get your whole body inspired to run far from any darkness, this is a real stunner that is filled with admirable honesty.

Listen up on YouTube and see more on IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

The Melody Is So Sweet: Jessamine Barham loves that free-feeling in Nature

Posted on 29 August 2022

Inspired by Birdy, Within Temptation, and Regina Spektor, Jessamine Barham shows us her love for the outdoors that shall guide you away from the stifling smokey city that is so far from the peaceful climates of Nature.

Jessamine Barham is a San Diego, California-based indie folk/chamber-pop singer-songwriter and writer who makes beautiful melodies that are rather mood-altering.

”Most of my music is either about stories I create or personal experiences or issues I’ve had.” ~ Jessamine Barham describing her sound

Gracing us with something rather special and packed with so much love, Jessamine Barham is rather special and shall hug your ear so sweetly. Everything is so pure and genuine to the max, to help us heal from all the trauma that can only be cured by taking in the beautiful parts of our planet.

Nature from San Diego, California-based indie folk/chamber-pop artist Jessamine Barham is a delightful effort that has been made with that rare class and authentic vibes. Vocally enhanced and kind in every way possible, this is an experience for this whole needs a break from the toxic smog that our busy cities can wrap over us.

When you feel that fresh air inside your lungs, everything in your soul changes for the better.

Listen to this lovely song on YouTube and see more news via IG.

Reviewed by Llewelyn Screen

Jessamine Barham has released her consolingly baroque ballad ‘Only a Dream’

Posted on 25 February 2021

If you’re as aurally sensitive as me and your dreams are more lucid than your waking life lately, Jessamine Barham’s latest single ‘Only a Dream’ is going to sting.

The singer-songwriter wrote the theatrically baroque ballad with the same intent which simmers behind each of her works; to offer resonance to the lonely, ignored and “those who wish to know the hidden world behind the sound of silence”.

Any fans of Tori Amos, Amanda Palmer, and Abney Park will definitely want to get acquainted with Jessamine Barham’s consoling talent.

Only a Dream was released on January 22nd; it is now available to stream via YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast

Jessamine Barham – Marching On: A Sanity-Preservation Playlist Staple

Posted on 17 October 2020

After the release of her second album, there’s never been a better time to indulge in Jessamine Barham’s captivatingly devastating Alt-Indie Folk Pop sound.

The perfect introduction to her melancholically arrestive style is “Marching On” which compassionately addresses the very real fact that globally, we’re suffering from a loss of faith. Not just in a religious sense, but a loss of faith in our futures, ourselves, our leaders. The list is endless, but, as Jessamine Barham so poignantly alludes in this haunting release, it’s not easy to pull yourself out of a depressive hole, but that doesn’t mean that it is an impossibility for you to see more than just futility.

This track isn’t for the fainthearted. The directness of it may rub some salt in the wound, but just as with that tired old analogy, the salt (track) can heal after it stings.

I don’t make a habit of expressing personal gratitude in my reviews, but Jessamine Barham deserves so much more than fancy adjectives, she deserves recognition for this truly priceless record, for how candidly she approached the lyrics, for how cathartically resolving the soundscape became. So, thank you.

You can check out Marching On by heading over to YouTube.

Review by Amelia Vandergast