Julia Jacklin - 'Crushing'

​Our time together is short, just bear with me. I'm listening to this to Julia Jacklin's Crushing for the first time along with all the rest of you. Here are a few thoughts.    ​​

Firstly. She was saving the best until last. 'Body' aches and carries with it a recurring theme on this record. I guess my take first listen would be that it's looking in on yourself. Still thinking about it.

Heard 'Head Alone' when it came out as single. "I don't want to be touched all the time," great lyric! Every song is a story. It reminds me a little of those early Angel Olsen records. 

'Pressure To Party' has that breathless kind of feel, like those Talking Heads records when David Byrne sounded like he had just run around the block or was just really scared. The loose Velvet Underground (almost) instrumental I dig too. 'Don't Know How To Keep Loving You' is, c'mon, a pure Neil Young jammer. Until Jacklin's voice cuts in, then she makes it her own.

What's next? 'When The Family Flys In'  gets ultra minimal and so does 'Convention'. 'Good Guy' too. At this point, I am thinking I have heard enough to say that Julia Jacklin is sounding versatile, more so than recordings previous. Not only is she striding to the peaks of Don't Let The Kids Win she's dancing across them. I think she's accelerating as an artist and maybe her best work is still to come, but also I have not finished this record.

'You were Right' flicks back to a Phantastic Ferniture-style sound, then comes 'Turn Me Down'. 'Comfort'! A total winddown, good choice of closer.

How do I think it all fits together? Hmm, well this whole thing going on where she pulls from her inner dialogue and pushes out stylistically. I like that a lot. She has a beautiful voice, honest too but can also put herself across with a bit of flash. She's good at albums. Spare of more time and some kind of lofty critical opinion, I will say this: I really enjoyed it. I hope you do too.    
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Words by Riley Fitzgerald   
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