When poet and songwriter Jenny Berkel wrote her recent album, These Are the Sounds Left from Leaving, she was living alone in a tiny apartment full of radiant light and the ever-present soundscape of a leaky bath faucet. It was a sudden move at the time — a spontaneous departure from touring, bustling city life, being many things to many people — that landed Berkel in a space of self-imposedstillness. “The songs on These Are the Sounds Left from Leaving are a study of proximity, bringingbig fears into small spaces,” says Berkel, reflecting on the album. “They’re intimate examinations ofa world that often overwhelms."

The Quiet Between, written in the midst of the pandemic – and in the midst of the surreal still nesscreated by the pandemic – finds a different way of parsing through a kaleidoscopic world; written with quiet intention and attention, and more intimately recorded than previous albums, the EP features five songs that are interpretations of poems by writers Síle Englert, Sydney Hegele, Kevin Andrew Heslop, David Janzen, and Ryanne Kap, all of whom were part of Berkel’s artistic community in London, Ontario.

“Light it Slant,” the first single, juxtaposes melancholy with an undercurrent of hope. Based on “High Level Bridge”, a poem by writer and teacher David Janzen (author of nature: nurture, Baseline Press), the song investigates the nature of wisdomas well as the wisdom held within the quiet of nature. The instruments swell gently together before the chorus, where Misha Bower’s harmonies lift the song out of its heaviness. “Westbound” is a creaky and hushed piano ballad. Based on “Westbound to London”, a poem by writer Ryanne Kap (author of goodbye already, Frog Hollow Press), the song is full of an aching longing. Recorded almost by accident – the engineer was testing levels while Berkel was working out the arrangement on the piano – the recording captures thevulnerability of the lyrics and of longing itself. Though still quiet and spare, “Blush On” is the most upbeat of the five songs on The Quiet Between. Based on “June First”, a poem by Sydney Hegele (author of The Pump, Invisible Publishing, a recent finalist for the 2022 Trillium Book Award), the song features Ryan Boldt (The Deep Dark Woods) and evokes Tucker Zimmerman with its layering of guitars and movement.

The album was recorded over several sleepy winter days at the Sugar Shack in London, Ontario; the sparseness of the songs reflects the new quiet imposed by the pandemic while also allowing the poetry of Berkel’s collaborators to be at the forefront. Recorded with only the engineer (Simon Larochette) and Ryan Boldt (The Deep Dark Woods) present, the songs feature Berkel and Boldt with additional flourishes by Misha Bower (The Bruce Peninsula), Simon Larochette, and Kelly Larochette. From poem to song to recording, The Quiet Between relies heavily upon and emphasizes the significance of one’s local community.

Whether you’re reading Berkel’s poetry — in her debut chapbook Grease Dogs with Baseline Press — or listening to her recordings, Pale Moon Kid (2016), These Are the Sounds Left From Leaving(2022), and now The Quiet Between, you’ll experience her drawing layers of far - reaching concerninto particular moments, like concentric waves rippling inward toward a lone cast stone. A songwriter immersed in poetry, a poet immersed in music — her work in all its forms is an invitationinto a world of relatable introspection, in which even absences can be sculpted into vividly memorable verse.