Jono McCleery – To See You Again

Jono McCleery is an English singer-songwriter who creates timeless music that is just as much influenced by the electronic and avant garde as it is by the more traditional folk and soul canon. Since his self-released debut, Darkest Light, came out in 2008, Jono has released a string of albums via Ninja Tune Recordings, and collaborated with fellow artists across the musical spectrum including Maribou State, Portico (Quartet), and Maceo Plex. Over the years his music has received support from Gilles Peterson, Jamie Cullum, Phil Selway (of Radiohead), Lauren Laverne and many more, whilst touring internationally with Bonobo and Jamie Woon. As well as having over 50 million streams worldwide on Spotify, his music has been used in a number of television shows including Queen Sugar, Start Up and This Is Us. Jono sees his music as something which is constantly evolving, drawing inspiration from an ever-widening range of influences, and that seeks to connect.

To See You Again is the first single to be taken from Jono’s eighth album, Reconcile. It’s an LP that represents something of an effort to want to ‘put things right’, as Jono explains:

“I feel like my last releases went largely unnoticed, despite being proud of them. Things like commitment to being a dad, and the pandemic happening, have also had their impact on my music (and for many others like me). So I have felt a certain motivation to write and record a body of work which wholly represents me at this time. It also represents a chance to restart, and I’m really excited for this to be my first release with Sonar Kollektiv.”

The single was written at a tumultuous period in Jono’s life, just days before the death of his pianist brother, Stephen.

“I spontaneously sang it with my daughter before putting her to bed and it felt like a prayer for him to let go. I recorded it on my phone as a demo and liked it so much I decided to keep it. I asked Matt Kelly to arrange strings and shortly after that I asked Fybe to make a beat and help us expand the sound. The three of us had worked together before on my first album with Ninja Tune, and this felt like a great time to reunite. After hearing how well the song came together it made sense for us to keep going and try to make an album together.”

The song begins simply with acoustic guitar and voice, accompanied by twinkling piano and tambourine before lush yet sombre strings echo out to invite a more full sound courtesy of Matt Kelly’s arrangements and producer Greg Haynes, AKA Fybe One, who adds subtle beats and more vigorous percussion into the mix. Jono’s soaring, spine-tingling vocals glide alongside the strings, telling his touching and heartfelt tale with aplomb.

To See You Again is the perfect introduction to the Reconcile album, which is in itself a story of journeys and navigating through periods of love and loss, and signals a yearning for us to reconnect to ourselves and nature, as Jono explains:

“Timing is everything in music, as it is in life, and I truly feel it’s time for us to share this record, and remind people what music should be about.”