Cassandra Jenkins - An Overview on Phenomenal Nature

Oh, hadn't heard the third single:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SxE2Hr64pY

Weird - the first five shops I looked for this had sold out.

Saw her play live a couple times, good stuff.

This album is so good, I’ve had it on constant play all weekend. Just lovely. I went back and listened to the previous one, and it’s good and you can see where this came from, but the new one is a leap in all kinds of ways.

The rest of the (very short) album is more conventional than “Hard Drive,” but really the whole album flows as a unified work, with “Hard Drive” at the center and an amazing instrumental called “The Ramble” at the end. (A Central Park shout-out I assume, full of bird calls.)

It warrants a few plays. By which I mean, Hard Drive aside, it took a few plays to land with me.

The instrumentation here, the weave of sax and flute and guitar reverb, feels organic to the music but also unexpected. I mentioned Astral Weeks on the Indie thread, the other thing it puts me in mind of in some ways is Kate Bush’s Aerial — it doesn’t really sound like either of those, but it shares a kind of transcendental vibe.

Rolling INDIE 2021

here's the discussion from the indie thread, hadn't realise someone had made a thread already

really great album, totally sublime. it does have a similar sort of transcendental sunset vibe to aerial, i get the comparison. for me it's like someone let a folk album dissolve into the backing band from kaputt.

transcendental sunset is my new favorite subgenre.

This is good, it kind of reminds me of the first Eleanor Friedberger album - what with the saxophone, personal narratives, etc. (plus the mention of the Inn of the Seventh Ray).

Knowing next to nothing about Jenkins, I hadn't clocked the David Berman connection - presumably the "David" in "New Bikini" but possibly not.

Yeah, I read an interview with her where she talked about that. That is a reference to Berman, although it doesn't sound like they were exactly close — he had recruited her for his touring band, and she was really excited about it.

"Hard Drive" also makes me think of late '80s / early '90s Lou Reed – can't put my figure on specifically what song or album – but it's the sing-speak thing, plus the sax and other elements of the musical setting. Feels like a nice touchpoint for an NYC-based singer/songwriter...

Reminds me a bit of Mister Heartbreak-era Laurie Anderson, not miles away from '80s Lou.

I also thought a little of early Suzanne Vega (another New Yorker)

That dry, precise, self-aware diction

Yep. She's a downtown gal, basically.

the second half (last 4 tracks) of this is gorgeous

Yea this is an amazing late 80’s art pop album: Siberry, Laurie Anderson, Kate Bush, Mary Margaret O’Hara, Stina Nordenstam... drenched in something like Lanois reverb. Lovely.

Not to accuse it of plagarism or unoriginality, just pointing out the palette

I was checking out her earlier stuff; really liked the 2013 EP.

it's a little more restrained than most of those 80s artpop albums but i hear the connection to that lineage

i was completely unfamiliar with stina nordenstam before though and i'm listening to and she closed her eyes right now and it's great!

oh you are in for a treat, wait til you get to the follow-up Dynamite

Gosh, the final track of Jenkins's 2013 EP ("Birthday Song") is just gorgeous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4GbcmMoIDo

Reminds me a little of some of Nico Case's more languorous stuff. There's a beautiful moment in the middle where she sings "They waltz into... a room of darkness"; and the music shifts into to waltz time.

Her 2017 LP seems more... '70s style? I'm not connecting with that one as much.

I listened to those EPs last night too, I really like them! thank you for this thread, I found a new artist that I really like.

Haven't listened to the early EPs yet, I need to. I agree on the '17 album, it seemed nice but didn't grab me.

I also love the thematic through-line of this album, of loss and grief and recovery. It's there from literally the first line and recurs over and over in ways that seem both sad and hopeful. Very much a COVID album even if it's not specifically about COVID.

The 2018 EP ("Live in Foxen Canyon") is really nice... most of the songs are from the LP, but they breathe more in this setting.

love her voice

The penultimate track on the LP is a jam -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GWffzwmK4Ww

“Hard Drive” sound palette is definitely 80’s but the half sung half spoken vocals remind me of something from the Morr label like Lali Puna. It’s killing me that the “one two three” reminds me strongly of another song which I have in the tip of my tongue and I can’t quite place it.

Interesting piece - turns out she has played w/Eleanor Friedberger: https://pitchfork.com/features/rising/cassandra-jenkins-an-overview-on-phenomenal-nature-interview/

And with Uncle Earl, too. Her family sounds interesting.

Is this widely available (in the UK) yet? CD seems to have been on order for an age ...

I think it’s come and gone (I’ve missed it too) - the place I had it on order from said they’ve been told “they’ll be front of the queue if there’s a re-press”. Al though the ba da bing bandcamp is still selling them if you’re prepared to stump up postage from the US.

Ah, yes. We may have ordered from the same shop!

I've ordered it twice - once from Sister Ray and once from Reflex in Newcastle. Haven't heard back from the latter but I would be surprised if it arrived now.

Actually it turns out the total cost of ordering it direct from the ba da bing Bandcamp, even with postage from the US, is roughly the same so I might give that a go.

Just received the CD copy of EP which I ordered via Bandcamp (with little handwritten note from her) - very happy to have it

It's showing as a "pre-order" at Norman Records now though still just "unavailable" at Sister Ray.

Did Ba Da Bing just under estimate the demand for this, I wonder?

I'm still at the "play at least once everyday" phase ... though, sadly, via Spotify. (I have the CD on order).

FYI I ordered the CD (to the UK) through the Ba Da Bing bandcamp and it arrived the other day - the order seems to have been sent from Melodic records (the label) in Manchester so maybe they still have a few?

Wish I’d known, there are a couple of things I want from Melodic and it would have been good to save on postage!

I think the PR is associated to Melodic.

This is very pretty music

Did anyone actually receive this from Sister Ray? Only just occurred to me to check and it is showing as "In Stock" there.

Anyhow. This remains my favourite album of 2021, so far. I don't have a good sense of what I want to say about it, though.

This is really great! FYI if you are in the US and still looking, I was able to get a CD copy from Midheaven.

Still my favorite album of 2021, too. Some of it ("Ambiguous Norway") reminds me a lot of Bon Iver's self-titled album, albeit more restrained.

certainly a contender for my favourite this year

Liking this - Live on KEXP at home - a lot (Have just skipped to the songs so far):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pg_ijQmHVPo

^I was watching this last nite; nice performances for sure.

(she also seems like a cool person, for whatever that's worth)

Yeah, yeah she does.

She's an interesting artist: has been recording a while, but has only released one full-length LP, plus various EPs and singles. It feels like she sort of focuses on "minor statements" instead of grand gestures, and records when inspiration strikes (maybe approaching music-making similar to how a visual artist works?).

Then again, I guess multiple EPs & singles are pretty common these days (on every level of the biz).

i've listened to this album while on sunset walks a dozen times since spring -- i'm not sure it would make sense to me in any other context now -- and it's easily my favorite new record in a long while

this year's album was her second full-length though?

I guess you’re right, it is being referred to as an album (I’ve been thinking of it as an EP; it doesn’t quite feel album-y to me).

Taken me a while to get round to this but damn it's beautiful. Perfect as the evenings draw in and the year wheels into autumn.

I've returned to this after a bit of a break and ... it's utterly magical.

I think the record this reminds me of most is Stina Nordenstam's Memories of a Color. It's warmer overall, but has a similar coherence of vision and emotional tone.

She’s got a new EP out that seems to contain demos and other stuff related to the last album.

Great alt lyric (from the demo):

Call me Michelangelo
I’m a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle
My DNA looks pretty strange
Must be something in the water

Is that the real lyrics?

Yes!

I think I may actually prefer this to the album itself (...which still feels more like an EP to me, although it does squeak over the 30 min. mark). Obviously it's more "for fans," though, not a starting point.

Buying this tee immediately!

https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0240/6114/9236/products/turtleshirt_720x.png?v=1634748579

The alternate version of the album is very good.

Aware of this?

https://www.roughtrade.com/gb/cassandra-jenkins/the-ramble-morning-and-night-ep

I wasn't!

Is the alternate version actually available (in the UK)? Website I've ordered from says the CD was available in November ... but it hasn't arrived.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkGu3F5gAX4

new track for a label comp

Did anyone hear The Ramble (Morning and Night)?

Strange, I've not even seen a link to it.

It's not even on her Bandcamp (I do see it at Rough Trade).

Ta. Yeah, I can see it at Rough Trade in the US and UK but there don't appear to be clips from it. I'm intrigued but would like to hear some of it before shelling out £20.

Weird - still haven't managed to hear it. It's seven quid off at Rough Trade (UK), by the way.

Eventually ordered this despite not having a working record player and Ba Da Bing were decent enough to send me a download when I explained this! Haven't really been in the space to absorb it properly despite having played "An Overview ..." and "(An Overview on) An Overview ..." a lot this week.

Just saw her live at End of the Road festival. I love this album - my favourite of the last year or two - & was a little worried that it wouldn't really translate (particularly to a festival stage) but, no, she was amazing, easily the best thing I saw. Captured that soundworld and she really finds the songs, if that makes sense, emotional, charismatic, cathartic - ok it was the Sunday of a hard weekend but I was near tears.

https://cassandrajenkins.bandcamp.com/album/chale-jaana-cassandra-jenkins-suhail-yusuf-khan-live

(Would be £16.35 postage to the UK, which I can't really justify.)

New track out according to a mailing list email (Can't actually get any of the links to work yet, mind).

Dawn of a new era😈 “Only One” is coming out tomorrow🌊
“Sea sick dawn come to tear off another page” pic.twitter.com/sZYefzaPjZ

— Cassandra Jenkins (@CassFreshUSA) April 15, 2024

i'm not seeing anything on streaming yet but there is this teaser.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68aMst5uDKQ

video's out in 7 hours

really looking forward to new music from her

Hell yeah, same!

the single's lovely, she's gone full sophisti-pop

my light, my destroyer is out 12 july

01 Devotion
02 Clams Casino
03 Delphinium Blue
04 Shatner’s Theme
05 Aurora, IL
06 Betelgeuse
07 Omakase
08 Music??
09 Petco
10 Attente Téléphonique
11 Tape and Tissue
12 Only One
13 Hayley

press release cites: tom petty, annie lennox, neil young, the bends, pj harvey, the breeders, pj harvey, pavement, blackstar, and the blue nile

and that's really quite a track list lol

Oh yeah, this is nice. Up for this album for sure.

Just had an email about a Rough Trade exclusive - a bonus CD of extra tracks with the vinyl.

Actually, a 2-CD version as well.

new song is fantastic — she is great

Wow, this song is legit. I got kinda burned out on CJ, but I'm here for it

great news!

mostly i'm wondering how she's going to make all the sonic reference points fit together. "only one" is pure sophisti-pop but how is that going to fit with the 90s alt rock that's apparently a major influence elsewhere on the album?

"Destroyer" in the title of this very Kaputt-sounding* album is cute.

If you list Blue Nile and Annie Lennox as inspiration/RIYL for your album, I'm gonna think of that amazing "Downtown Lights" cover and immediately be on yr street team.

*The one song, anyway