Jenny Gillespie Mason’s “Rungs of Love” feels like a song that arrives quietly and lingers long after it finishes. Following years of exploring psychedelic pop, jazz, and electronic sounds with Sis and the Lower Wisdom, her return to folk seems more like a homecoming than a retreat. Mason shows she is fully aware of the magic in the acoustic guitar, using it not just as an instrument but as a refuge. “Rungs of Love” is intimate, searching, and deeply human. It holds spiritual longing and earthly feelings in the same hand.
What makes the song truly impactful is its theme of devotion without certainty. Mason does not present faith as tidy or resolved; she sings from the edge, where love becomes a ladder connecting the body to something greater. That tension adds real emotional weight. The song feels devotional but never distant, holy but never abstract. The lyrics express a person trying to stay tender in a difficult world, which gives the song its quiet power. The title itself is beautiful in its simplicity: each “rung” implies ascent, effort, and vulnerability, as though love must be climbed, reached for, and felt one step at a time.
Her vocals are one of the song’s greatest strengths. Mason sings with an honesty that never feels forced, and that restraint makes the performance moving. Her voice has a natural, genuine quality, warm and unforced, as if she is singing from memory rather than invention. There is no strain in her delivery, only presence. She lets the phrasing breathe, and that patience gives the song emotional credibility. Every line sounds considered yet simple, perfectly matching the song’s devotional spirit. She does not perform transcendence; she creates space for it.
The performance is beautifully grounded. The acoustic guitar serves as the song’s anchor, with a sound that feels close enough to touch. You can almost hear the wood of the instrument and the air around it. This sense of physical closeness creates strong emotional intimacy from the start. The ensemble supports the song with remarkable sensitivity. The arrangement does not crowd the vocals or disrupt the mood. Instead, it unfolds gently, allowing small details to enhance the atmosphere. The percussion, bass, cello, woodwinds, and soft electronic elements all serve the song’s inner life rather than competing for attention.
This balance plays a significant role in the production’s success. Noah Georgeson’s approach favors spaciousness, warmth, and subtle movement. The track has a live, breathing quality that makes the performance feel present. Nothing sounds overworked. The folk roots remain clear, but the production adds a delicate shimmer and a hint of psychedelic haze that enhances the song’s spiritual feeling without losing its shape. This production understands that silence is part of the arrangement. The spaces between sounds are just as important as the sounds themselves.
“Rungs of Love” also benefits from its place within the broader context of In the Safety of the Light. Mason’s return to folk is not just about aesthetics; it feels philosophical. The song reflects an artist looking back at the basic, enduring tools of songwriting—voice, guitar, ensemble, and atmosphere—and discovering them newly vibrant. There is wisdom here, but no pretension. The song trusts tenderness, repetition, breath, and stillness. That trust gives it strength.
In the end, “Rungs of Love” is a graceful piece of spiritual folk music that feels both timeless and immediate. Jenny Gillespie Mason sings as someone who has navigated complexity and emerged with deeper clarity, not louder answers. The song is beautiful because it does not rush to resolve its longing. It allows that longing to become the music. In doing so, it becomes something rare: a folk song that feels not only heard but also lived in.
Listen to “Rungs of Love” on Spotify
