This self-released compilation by Portuguese project The Joy of Nature comes in a beautiful handmade packaging, featuring a knitwork sleeve, fishscale flower ornament, and numbered and dedicated liner notes. Every one of the 100 copies has a different quote in the liner notes, and the thoughts of the recipients of the albums on this quote will be published on a special blog: here. The release itself contains a large number of tracks, spanning 10 years of composition by Luís Couto. There are compilation tracks, side project tracks, and reworked versions.

What is striking about this release is that despite the different origins of the tracks, the sound and atmosphere on the album are quite consistent. I would typify The Joy of Nature as a kind of relaxed mediterranean neofolk, with an emphasis on a mystical and dreamy atmosphere. A wide variety of instruments is used, including guitars, zithers, harps, piano and other string instruments, synths, percussion, field recordings, and various types of vocals, mostly whispered and sung. The result is a very clear and organic sound that should appeal both to lovers of more conventional neofolk and those who prefer dreamy, wyrd or even fantasy atmospheres. A couple of tracks have a slightly more intense or martial tinge to them, which makes this release a nice change from what I've heard on the two The Shepherd's Tea releases. At times, when listening closely, the album feels a bit long or monotonous, but the atmosphere is constant and quite good, and would be a perfect soundtrack for reading, or a game.

I haven't been disappointed by this project yet, and I really recommend picking this up if you are into neofolk. This handmade release is perhaps not the cheapest, but a lot of work has been put into it, and you get a unique package that is well worth it. I'm looking forward to more material!

O.S.