For all the album’s vastness and gravity, it was in this small home studio that Jordan and Cook chipped away over the winter of early 2021 at co-producing a dynamic collection of genre-melding new songs, finishing it triumphantly in the spring. Here she worked with Brad Cook (Bon Iver, Waxahatchee).
Jordan took her newfound sense of clarity and calm to Durham, North Carolina, along with the bones of a new album. It was after this choice to take radical action that Valentine really took its unique shape. Since she was not allowed to bring her instruments or recording equipment, Jordan began tabulating the new album arrangements on paper solely out of memory and imagination. This 45-day interlude followed issues stemming from a young life colliding with sudden fame and success. It’s here that she mourns a lost love, conceding the true nature of a fleeting romantic tie-up and ultimately, referencing a stay in a recovery facility in Arizona. On “Ben Franklin”, the second single of the album, Jordan sings “Moved on, but nothing feels true / Sometimes I hate her just for not being you / Post rehab I’ve been feeling so small / I miss your attention, I wish I could call”. The reference points are broad and psychically stirring, while the lyrics build masterfully on the foundation set by Jordan’s first record to deliver a deeper understanding of heartbreak. Made with careful precision, Valentine shows an artist who has chosen to take her time. In 10 songs, written over 2019-2020 by Jordan alone, we are taken on an adrenalizing odyssey of genuine originality in an era in which “indie” music has been reduced to gentle, homogenous pop composed mostly by ghost writers. On Valentine, her sophomore album out November 5th on Matador, Lindsey solidifies and defines this trajectory in a blaze of glory. It was an impressive and unequivocal career-making moment for Jordan. The contradiction of confidence and vulnerability, power and delicacy, had the impact of a wrecking ball when put to tape. Her natural ability to be many things at once resonated with a lot of people.
#HEAT WAVE SNAIL MAIL LYRICS FULL#
“Music is a hard job!” Jordan is primed to take it on and win.On her 2018 debut album Lush, seventeen-year-old Lindsey Jordan sang “I’m in full control / I’m not lost / Even when it’s love / Even when it’s not”. “It’s not easy for anyone to make it,” she says. It’s all part of an industry whirlwind Jordan is still getting to grips with. Snail Mail’s four-piece live incarnation is hitting the road hard in support of Lush, with their van due in the UK in May. “It explores multiple styles, techniques, topics and vibes that there is no way to grasp by only listening to singles.” No one has the full scope yet,” she says. “I’m excited for people to have the entire narrative because I want it to be heard cover to cover. Habit was written when I was 15 as a diary entry practically, while Lush is something I made with time, resources and a distinct idea as to how I wanted it to feel.” Jordan is keen for the world to swallow it whole. “I wrote it over a year-and-a-half, and every song has specific and deep meaning. “Lush exists as its own entity with its own writing process that differs from Habit in almost every way possible,” Jordan explains. It’s the culmination of 13 years of playing, from childhood classical training, through to high school musicals in Jordan’s Baltimore hometown of Ellicott City and lessons from indie virtuoso Mary Timony. Due on Matador in June, Lush is an indie-rock record powered by its 18-year-old creator’s life experiences, personality and muscular guitar sound. “I’m a gigantic critic of myself during the writing process, nothing comes together easily.” In order to affect the mood of the record, Jordan would even sing certain songs in slippers and a dressing gown, or do press-ups in the studio. Jordan confides that she spends “a lot of time” on lyrics to make them “as genuine and honest” as possible. Every riff, coruscating guitar line and drum fill has its place, with Jordan’s vocals – noxious one minute, sweet, loved up or vulnerable the next – telling vivid stories over the top. Together with producer Jake Aron, who has worked with Solange and was chosen for his pop understanding, and engineer Jonathan Schenke (Parquet Courts, The Men), Jordan pored obsessively over each second of Lush. We tried to emulate it on the record as much as possible, but found that its uniquely obnoxious quality is best in small doses,” she says. “It’s a disorientating sound that I really like. "It’s a crunchy, bright, screaming sound…” Lindsey Jordan is describing her current favourite noise to summon from a guitar, specifically, the lead line on Heat Wave, a searing documentation of a relationship that features on Lush, her debut album as Snail Mail.