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Crystal Jacqueline & Friends — Smoke Road
(Fruits de Mer winkle 60, 2025, 2LP)

by Henry Schneider, Published 2025-12-23

Smoke Road Cover art

We’ve been following Crystal Jacqueline for many years from her first solo efforts on Fruits de Mer in 2013 and with The Honey Pot since 2016. Over the years she has grown musically, with her latest effort being her best to date. Smoke Road is a double LP with nineteen tracks divided into four sides: The Smoke Side, The Burning Side, The Wind Side, and The Elven Side. Jacqueline’s friends on her new album include many familiar names: Icarus Peel (guitars, synths, bass, bazouki, sitar, vocals, and bodhran), Jay Tausig (vocals and flute), Leo O’Kelly of tir na nOg (flute), Rob Gould (piano), Mordecai Smyth (Mellotron), Mark McDowell (vocals), Phil Townsend (jaw harp), Maria Townsend (Irish whistle), Dick Terry (drums and vocals), Django Manglunki (glissando guitar), and author David Greygoose. All nineteen songs are originals, mostly penned by David Greygoose and Icarus Peel, except for “In the Sky” by David Greygoose and Jacqueline, “Greygoose” by Icarus Peel, and “The Greygoose Lament” by Rob Gould, Jay Tausig, and Icarus Peel.  Interestingly David Greygoose has been a long time fan of Jacqueline and The Honey Pot and he sent them some of his books and poems. They soon noticed a synergy between David’s work and their music, so they began the Smoke Road project in the Summer of 2023. And the cover art has its own story: Jacqueline’s friend Claerwen is an artist in their village who creates art and ceramics, plus cards from her artwork, and as with their symbiosis with David Greygoose, she felt a similar connection to Claerwen and her art that complimented Smoke Road, so she asked Claerwen if they could use two of her illustrations for the album. Where do I start about the music? Each side and the accompanying songs are excellent! Be it mysterious acid folk, wyrd psych, progressive rock, or West Coast psych you won’t be disappointed. Some of the highlights for me include the short opening track “In the Sky” that is an experimental piece consisting of only Jacqueline’s vocals, “Petals of the Moon” which is a duo of Dick Terry and Jacqueline that is enhanced by Leo O’Kelly’s mournful violin, “The Tides That Turn” with Jay Tausig’s vocals and Leo O’Kelly’s merging of an Irish jig with acid folk, and “Dreamwalkers” a perfect gothic psych song that seems to be a cross pollination with another Fruits de Mer band Us and Them. All of the songs are just the right length. Plus the closing instrumental “The Greygoose Lament” is a wonderful piece that starts out as semi-classical piano with ethereal Mellotron vocals that eventually morphs into a folk waltz. Smoke Road is quite an achievement!

Filed under: New releases, 2025 releases

Related artist(s): Jay Tausig, Crystal Jacqueline (Bourne), Mordecai Smyth, Icarus Peel, Tír na nÓg, Mark McDowell, Rob Gould

More info
http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/smoke.html

 

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