Cassandra Jenkins albums

2021

An Overview on Phenomenal Nature - 84%

               Ethereal singer-songwriters can be a dime a dozen these days, but I’m always a sucker for a pretty voice singing songs of substance and Cassandra Jenkins certainly knows how to write a good song. Lyrically, Jenkins seems to be singing about nature and parallels to friends and family she has recently lost. The overtones of “New Bikini” speaks of a friend who is terminally ill and she wants to get to the ocean since “the water cures everything”. On “Hailey” she talks about new year resolutions and a woman who wants to reinvent herself after stealing all her money.

         On a musical front, the music has elements of jazz though it is less improvisation and more just elegant arrangements. “Crosshairs” knows exactly how to use woodwinds to paint an elegant background, where “Hard Drive” mixes a road trip with thinking like a computer where a saxophone wails in the background. Lead track “Michelangelo” plays around with a simple drum accompaniment in a masterful way, and sets the tone for the record which is barely 31 minutes long but feels much more substantial than many that are double that in length. The atmospheric closer “The Ramble” I feel like could possibly go on forever and stay relevant, though it’s possibly the area where she has room to grow the most (either expand on the idea or make it multiple melodies intertwined a la Julia Holter?) 

Best Songs: Hard Drive, Michelangelo, Hailey

2024

My Light My Destroyer - 86%

When comparing the 9 songs on this record to the previous one, I do think this is a more consistent and varied listen. It may not hit the absolute highs of 2021 but it works a awhile. The slight issue that holds this album back is the need for four songs that serve as sort of interludes here, where are pretty much all completely unnecessary. "Hayley" is a mess of violins, but hardly Lisa Germano quality, and if you are going to have interludes that are this long (over a minute thirty) have them more engaging than this or "Attnete Tele", not to mention Betelgeuse which just kind of lists moons for its three minute run time.

Other than that, you have like 7 to 9 pretty great songs! She is a master of textures for sure. I love the way "Omakase" drifts in this vacuum of space (a lot of space themes here. "The Only One" works in context of the album, easily the most straightforward song of her career ballad wise. "Aurora, IL" many would site a Neil Young influence but its newer than that, at least Red House Painters quality slow drifting and chugging guitars. The more rocking "Petco" and "Clams Casino" are genius little evolutions of her sound, part Julia Holter (her biggest influence it seems) and part just the whole vast legacy of great female songwriters.

Best Songs: Petco,  Aurora Il, Omakase, Clams Casino