Mt. Joy’s debut album opens with a striking guitar chord, which powerfully sets the tone for the entire album. There’s something to be said about music that so effortlessly and unapologetically bares its very soul to you within the very first note, and Mt. Joy captures such an indistinguishable feeling in doing this.
This feeling is rare in today’s music.
Mt. Joy’s roots are in Philadelphia. High school friends, Matt Quinn and Sam Cooper, formed their band thanks to a shared ambition in music and picked up a few more members along the way. After recording a few songs themselves, Mt. Joy was launched into stardom as many musicians are today, Spotify. Their indie-rock single, “Astrovan” was streamed over 5 million times on the streaming platform after being self-produced.
“The irony of ‘Astrovan’ was that it was really about being stuck in a life and wanting to have the opportunity to pursue a dream, and in an instant, it gave us that opportunity,” says Cooper on Mt. Joy’s about page.
Pretty ironic, considering a line from Astrovan is: “These dreams are made of paper things.”
The rest is history. The band has toured the country, played festivals and recorded their debut album of the same name.
Mt. Joy’s unique sound encapsulates many genres and makes them all their own. Each song sounds like it almost has roots in a different genre, but this clearly works, as the album has an effortless flow from song to song. Mt. Joy leaves nothing unexplored, as all moods and topics are featured throughout the record, but nothing is as it seems at first glance. Themes of addiction, self-reflection and “social and political despondency” are not off limits.
“Silver Lining,” one of the band’s more popular, upbeat songs follows Quinn’s own narrative of drug addiction. This song leaves a powerful, almost indescribable feeling with the listener – one of hope, redemption, pain and love. “Silver Lining’s” chorus refrains with the same lyrics, representing the feeling of Quinns’ story of drug addiction and loss near perfectly, even to someone who has no experience or personal familiarity with Quinn’s narrative.
“And wear your silver lining/wear it close to your skin/but if it’s the drugs, the women, the wine, the weed/the love that took everything I owe/just take it all
And tell the ones you love, you love them/teach only what you know, and oh/ you better know it well.”
These unparalleled lyrics, combined with their fresh perspective, create something vastly new in music. Mt. Joy is truly a force to be reckoned with. Give their album a listen and for those in Richmond, Mt. Joy will performing at The National on October 28th.
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