Have you ever been afraid of texting the wrong person your most intimate thoughts? If Lindsey Jordan has, it doesn't sound like it. The teenage indie rocker is taking listeners on a ride through her innermost feelings and desires on Lush, her first album as Snail Mail.
The singer, who wrote and recorded this album shortly after graduating high school, holds nothing back on production quality and lyrical content. Over the course of ten slickly polished tracks, she bares her soul about heartbreak, confusion and loneliness with an unfiltered, unpretentious honesty. She wants you to hear all the little details, lyrically and instrumentally.
Jordan is a student of the game (literally — the legendary Mary Timony of Helium, Wild Flag and Ex Hex fame was her guitar teacher), and it shows on Lush. The record ticks off the checkboxes of indie rock record construction (hazy intro that features material from later on in the record; lead single as second track; big, swelling track in 6/8 that caps off the Side A; muted interlude that kicks off Side B; big penultimate track that segues into less-orchestral but still emotive finale) but the record is anything but by-the-numbers. It uses the genre's unspoken conventions as a launching pad for her raw, honest performances.
Whether delivering uptempo indie rock on "Heat Wave" and "Golden Dream" or slow-burning meditations like "Stick" and "Deep Sea," Snail Mail never fail to dole out another great riff or hook, and the meticulously arranged tracks keep momentum moving from start to finish. As a songwriter, Jordan doesn't hide behind obfuscating imagery — it's all raw and real. Howling "stupid, stupid, stupid me," as she does on "Golden Dream," packs more than enough punch.
Lush is unencumbered and honest, putting emotional pitfalls on full, nuanced display while remaining streamlined and filler-free.
(Matador Records)The singer, who wrote and recorded this album shortly after graduating high school, holds nothing back on production quality and lyrical content. Over the course of ten slickly polished tracks, she bares her soul about heartbreak, confusion and loneliness with an unfiltered, unpretentious honesty. She wants you to hear all the little details, lyrically and instrumentally.
Jordan is a student of the game (literally — the legendary Mary Timony of Helium, Wild Flag and Ex Hex fame was her guitar teacher), and it shows on Lush. The record ticks off the checkboxes of indie rock record construction (hazy intro that features material from later on in the record; lead single as second track; big, swelling track in 6/8 that caps off the Side A; muted interlude that kicks off Side B; big penultimate track that segues into less-orchestral but still emotive finale) but the record is anything but by-the-numbers. It uses the genre's unspoken conventions as a launching pad for her raw, honest performances.
Whether delivering uptempo indie rock on "Heat Wave" and "Golden Dream" or slow-burning meditations like "Stick" and "Deep Sea," Snail Mail never fail to dole out another great riff or hook, and the meticulously arranged tracks keep momentum moving from start to finish. As a songwriter, Jordan doesn't hide behind obfuscating imagery — it's all raw and real. Howling "stupid, stupid, stupid me," as she does on "Golden Dream," packs more than enough punch.
Lush is unencumbered and honest, putting emotional pitfalls on full, nuanced display while remaining streamlined and filler-free.