Cassandra Jenkins - My Light, My Destroyer

Apropos hoher Metascore: das bereits im Juli veröffentlichte „My Light, My Destroyer“ hält sich mit 88/100 Punkten unter den besten Alben des Jahres bei Metacritic und erzielt den gleichen Wert wie beispielsweise „All Born Screaming“ von St. Vincent oder Beth Gibbons’ „Lives Outgrown“. Auch in einigen Bestenlisten tauchte das dritte Album von Cassandra Jenkins bereits auf: Rough Trade UK (#27), Exclaim! (#22), MOJO (#14) und Uncut (#11). Weitere werden sicherlich in den letzten Wochen des Jahres 2024 folgen…

Das Album verdient sich Label wie jazziger Artpop, verträumter Folkrock oder sanfter Kammerpop und dürfte damit Freunden der in den letzten Jahren gefeierten Julia Holter, Weyes Blood, Waxahatchee, Phoebe Bridgers, Julien Baker oder The Weather Station gefallen.

„My Light, My Destroyer“ ist die erste Veröffentlichung der New Yorkerin über Dead Oceans und als CD und LP (black Vinyl, Summer Sky Splash Vinyl, Cotton Candy Splash Vinyl, Pink Clear Wave Vinyl) erhältlich. 

Hören wir in drei Songs aus „My Light, My Destroyer“ rein und lesen dabei einige der Lobpreisungen:

Equally catchy, but even better is the single, ‘Only One’, a timeless piece of soft rock that could have been made in any decade post-‘Rumours’ and should be (but probably isn’t) saturating radio playlists around the world. 

Put together, the disparate elements that make up ‘My Light, My Destroyer’ may betray the occasional influence, but combine to produce a singular world – one that is, at points, both deadly serious and funny, but always habitable.

Jenkins says that she “writes music for her friends” and on the evidence of her third album she will have many more of these by the end of the year.

(Clash Music)

 

There’s plenty of ear candy for indie-rock fans, from the aforementioned “Clams Casino” to the single “Petco,” a musing on humanity’s increasing distance from nature as she looks in a pet-store window at “two doves wrapped up in filthy and true love” and the “sideways gaze of a lizard” as the electric guitars build the song’s intensity on each verse (and even slip in a very “OK Computer” solo toward the end). Throughout, there are shades of everyone from Liz Phair, the Breeders and PJ Harvey to Sharon Van Etten and Phoebe Bridgers (please note, the last-named two artists are reference points and not influences), but the album is musically multi-dimensional and features intriguing arrangements, including one segment that seems to feature a sax, trombone and violin.

(Variety)

  

Music this textured is bound to take a few listens to get a hold of. Most impressive is how My Light, My Destroyer presents music that can be easily enjoyed – hooks and memorable lyrics abound – yet unravels deeper layers of meaning the more you dig in. Andrew Lappin’s production is lush or sparse according to the needs of each track, and Jenkins’s songwriting (in conjunction with various co-writers) is evocative despite its conciseness. If there were any doubt, My Light, My Destroyer earns Cassandra Jenkins a place among today’s most intriguing and accomplished singer-songwriters.  

(Pop Matters)