PRE PLEASURE (2022)

Singer and songwriter Julia Jacklin's second full-length, Crushing (2019), was a devastatingly raw and nuanced breakup album that broke her into the Top Ten in her native Australia. For the follow-up, she entered the studio with her third different producer in as many albums, Marcus Paquin (the Weather Station, the National), who helped open up her sound with assistance from a backing band that includes members of the Weather Station and, in a few cases, an orchestra featuring string arrangements by Owen Pallett. Another ... Read More

Singer and songwriter Julia Jacklin's second full-length, Crushing (2019), was a devastatingly raw and nuanced breakup album that broke her into the Top Ten in her native Australia. For the follow-up, she entered the studio with her third different producer in as many albums, Marcus Paquin (the Weather Station, the National), who helped open up her sound with assistance from a backing band that includes members of the Weather Station and, in a few cases, an orchestra featuring string arrangements by Owen Pallett. Another change-up on the resulting PRE PLEASURE, a record that seems to dwell in relationship(s) limbo, is that Jacklin wrote much of it on a Roland keyboard with built-in band tracks instead of on guitar. In the end, these differences, while notable, are somewhat subtle, as the songs still sound distinctively and intimately hers. The track list's sequencing loads the front end with midtempo soft rockers, including opener "Lydia Wears a Cross" ("I'd be a believer/If I thought we had a chance"), which employs some of those canned drums, at least to start. Songs like "Love, Try Not to Let Go" and the elegant "Ignore Tenderness" ("I've been thinking back/To when things went offtrack") continue to dig into underlying emotions and motivations while introducing minimal strings. The distortion-fueled, uptempo "I Was a Neon" then leads into the heart of PRE PLEASURE, the stark and vulnerable "Too in Love to Die," a Jacklin all-timer with only organ, acoustic guitar, and ghostly voice accompaniment, which is paired with the spare folk entry "Less of a Stranger." While the mood lifts for the remaining tracks, PRE PLEASURE never stops being affecting, with songs such as "Moviegoer," a slinky, evocative narrative about films ("Someone thin is smoking/With a look all-knowing"), their fans, and filmmakers ("40 million dollars/Still nobody loves you") that incorporates breathy, atmospheric woodwinds. Poignant closer "End of a Friendship" brings together expansive strings, a relaxed rhythm section, shimmery guitar delay, a tender, lyrical melody, and eventual squealing feedback before ending on the opener's mechanical drums. Although Crushing is a hard act to follow, Jacklin pulls it off gracefully here, with an album whose dramatic arc and songs hold their own. ~ Marcy Donelson, Rovi Read Less

• All from $26.57
• New Music from $26.57

• All Copies (2)
• CD (2)
• Choose Release (1)

• Music Details
• Seller
• Sort U.K./EUR Sellers Price: Low to High Price: High to Low Condition Condition: Reverse Release Date Release Date: Rev Sellers Near Me

• CD, New 2022, Polyvinyl UPC: 644110046420 See Item Details ▾

  newtownvideo HIGH huntingdon valley, PA, USA

  $26.57 Add to Basket

  	Edition: 2022, Polyvinyl CD, New Available Copies: 10+	Details: UPC: 644110046420 Discs: 1 Label: Polyvinyl Released: 08/26/2022 Alibris ID: 17845877378	Shipping Options: Standard Shipping: $3.47 Choose your shipping method in Checkout. Costs may vary based on destination.
  Seller's Description: New. Buy with confidence-Satisfaction Guaranteed! Delivery Confirmation included for all orders in the US.
  ► Contact This Seller
  Hide Details ▴

2022, Polyvinyl UPC: 644110046420 CD See All from $19.28