A third album in the solo project of Baltimore multi-instrumentalist and producer Jenn Wasner brings together the beautiful and the bittersweet with a collection of intimate, sensitive songs about heartbreak and memory addiction, co-dependency, inherited and experienced trauma, and ways of finding peace. She has been writing and performing for two decades, working as half of the duo Wye Oak, or many collaborations such as with Bon Iver, and Sylvan Esso, but this continues a new line of strong creativity. Long After Midnight is among the standouts, capturing a complex narrative, situation and set of emotions with through beautiful, acoustic-folk songwriting: “All the money I gave to you / I know I will never get it back / Don't be sad and don't be sorry / I don't care about the money like that … You say you can't afford your medication / Too many hoops they're gonna put you through / You can't waste another moment / Not for the life of you … People say it's not my problem / They say that actions have a consequence / If you call me I would answer / I'm the last line of defense.” She has described this very personal album “as a testament to the depth of my love for those I cannot save, and that it might provide some comfort for anyone who is still learning how to love and live for themselves.” As well as on that song, is full of powerful, telling moments, from the slow, simmering, but quietly defiant opener Afraid (“I did not enter this world afraid / And I refuse to leave it that way”) to Keep My In The Dark, Defeat’s understated, muted pain, the crisp electronica and high sensitivity of Close To Home (“I sit with the worst indecision / I handle my words with precision”), the sparse vulerability of Not Yet Free, the sheer guitar and other instrumental warmth of Pride, or River In My Arms, all the way to the equally delicate, candid, gently ironic closer I Think I’m God (“I think I’m god / I know I’m not …), all of which led by her passionate, sensitive voice. Beautifully weighted, intense, melancholy, quietly tragic, and enormously honest. Out on Sub Pop.
New to comment? It is quick and easy. You just need to login to Disqus once. All is explained in About/FAQs ...
Feel free to recommend more new songs and albums and comment below. You can also use the contact page, or find more on social media: Song Bar X, Song Bar Facebook. Song Bar YouTube, and Song Bar Instagram. Please subscribe, follow and share.
Song Bar is non-profit and is simply about sharing great music. We don’t do clickbait or advertisements. Please make any donation to help keep the Bar running: