Jessica Moss

Jessica Moss first gained recognition through her role in the post-rock collective Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, yet her independent recordings pursue more exploratory directions. Active in the Canadian music community since the 2000s, she issued her initial solo album, Pools of Light, in 2017, a work that demonstrated her method of channeling environmental themes into post-classical textures.

She started violin lessons at five and entered professional music by joining Montreal indie-pop outfit Nerdy Girl. In 1995 she moved to alt-rock group Fidget, remaining for two years before entering Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra. Founded in 1999 by Godspeed You! Black Emperor’s Efrim Menuck as a trio, the ensemble later added cellist Rebecca Foon, guitarist Ian Ilavsky, and Moss herself. The group maintained a consistent release schedule across the noughties and supplied contributions to Vic Chestnutt’s Constellation-issued albums North Star (2007) and At the Cut (2009). Moss also featured on Broken Social Scene’s Feel Good Lost (2001) and You Forgot it in People (2002), Arcade Fire’s Funeral (2004), and performed as a member of Montreal quartet Black Ox Orkestar.

Only in 2015 did she turn toward unaccompanied work, issuing the limited-edition cassette Under Plastic Light, prompted by the vast plastic debris patch in the Pacific. Two years afterward came her first full-length statement: Pools of Light, constructed primarily from violin lines processed through loops and effects pedals, yielding an atmospheric collection centered on ecological concerns and the refugee crisis. For the follow-up, Moss extended the experimental post-classical framework of her debut, wove in the post-rock sensibility acquired during fifteen years with Thee Silver Mt. Zion Memorial Orchestra, and added drone components. Entanglement appeared on Constellation in 2018.