by Jake Tatlock (@onairwithjake)
Apparently, there's only so much joy to go around these days. No Joy’s latest EP, Big Life, Big Leaf deals with finding some happiness when life isn't exactly going according to plan. The band started in 2009 with Jasamine White-Gluz and Laura Lloyd. At the time, White-Gluz was living in Los Angeles while Lloyd was in Montreal. The two started sending guitar riffs and recordings back and forth through email before eventually getting together in Montreal. They became part of the shoegaze revival, making a name for themselves with distorted guitars, hazy vocals, and plenty of noise.
Over the years, No Joy continued experimenting with different sounds. The band even collaborated with Sonic Boom of Spacemen 3, and by the time Motherhood arrived in 2020, electronic music, trip-hop, and nu-metal influences had found their way into the mix. White-Gluz eventually became No Joy’s sole member, with different musicians and producers contributing along the way. That brings things to 2025's Bugland, which followed her move from Montreal to rural Quebec. Instead of making a peaceful record inspired by life in the country, she became interested in just how chaotic nature actually is. Something is always moving, growing, dying, or making noise. That idea became part of the album's sound.
Now comes Big Life, Big Leaf, a three-song EP released through Hand Drawn Dracula and Sonic Cathedral, serving as a companion to Bugland with White-Gluz once again working alongside Angel Marcloid, best known for her experimental electronic project Fire-Toolz. Joined by Jorge Elbrecht on the title track and Tara McLeod (Kittie) contributing guitar throughout the EP, it's an interesting combination of musicians, especially considering the different kinds of music they're known for. Shoegaze, experimental electronic music, and metal aren't always things you'd expect to find together, but No Joy has never seemed particularly interested in staying within one genre.
"Barking at the Sun" starts off strong with White-Gluz's voice immediately taking the listener on a journey. There's something elegant and relaxing about her delivery. The vocals have a dreamy quality, but there's also a surprisingly poppy side to the song. At the beginning, White-Gluz's voice even brings Björk to mind, not necessarily because the two sound exactly alike, but because of the playful, experimental approach to the vocals and the music surrounding them. There's a similar willingness to take sounds somewhere unexpected. The guitars are still an important part of the song, but there's more happening underneath. Marcloid handles the drums, bass, keyboards, and electronics, while Diego Juarez contributes scratching. Yes, scratching on a shoegaze record. Rather than worrying about what belongs in a particular genre, No Joy seems perfectly comfortable mixing everything together.
"Big Life, Big Leaf" jumps straight into the music. There's an almost beach-like atmosphere to the song, something relaxing and sunny about the way everything comes together. The electronic elements and guitars give the song a different feeling from the opener, but it never seems out of place. There's something about its atmosphere that makes it easy to get lost in. There's also a deeper story behind the track, the song originally started as a demo during the Bugland sessions prior to White-Gluz working on it with Elbrecht and eventually Marcloid. The vocals were recorded in one take during a particularly emotional period, the song dealing with the pain of saying goodbye but also the importance of remembering the happiness that came before the loss. That makes the song's brighter atmosphere even more interesting. For something dealing with such a difficult subject, the music feels surprisingly warm and inviting, all the more interesting as White-Gluz and Marcloid both experienced personal losses during the same recording weekend.
"Süki & Amadeus" is exactly the song this EP needed to hold the whole thing together. It starts off slowly with a nice, subtle, drumbeat that gives everything room to breathe. There's something almost calming about those opening moments, but that doesn't last forever. The song eventually explodes with energy and fun, taking everything to eleven. What begins slow soon bursts and doesn't let up until the very end. It's a fantastic way to close out the record after the dreamy vocals of "Barking at the Sun" and the beach-like atmosphere of the title track, bringing everything together while giving No Joy one last opportunity to show just how much they can do with their sound. White-Gluz, Marcloid, and McLeod share songwriting credits on this track while Faye Fadem contributes additional drum samples, a reminder of how far No Joy has come since those early days of sending guitar recordings back and forth between LA and Montreal.
Across its three songs, Big Life, Big Leaf runs just over fifteen minutes. That isn't a lot of music, but there's plenty happening throughout. Each song has its own personality, but they fit together without sounding like three completely unrelated ideas. No Joy has spent more than fifteen years experimenting with different sounds and musical directions. Big Life, Big Leaf continues that tradition while showing that even a short release can offer plenty of surprises. Sometimes finding joy isn't about pretending everything is going well. Sometimes it's about remembering the good things even when life feels pretty terrible. For a band called No Joy, there's actually quite a bit of it here.