On Face The Wall, Jordana Ascends
The post On Face The Wall, Jordana Ascends appeared first on Consequence.
Ten years ago marked a formative era of indie: this was a period in which the lines had blurred between “mainstream” and “hipster,” two arbitrary terms that now, in 2022, are almost meaningless. This was a period where Phoenix was headlining the biggest festival in the United States, Gotye’s “Somebody That I Used To Know” hit No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, Arctic Monkeys were at the peak of their prowess stateside, and the now arena-filling alt rock powerhouses HAIM and The 1975 were just starting to grow deeply-devoted fan bases.
For Consequence’s May Artist of the Month Jordana, this was just the beginning — seventh grade, to be exact. She was just like all of us, basking in the cool of Julian Casablancas and The Strokes, Ezra Koenig, and Alex Turner on Tumblr, fawning over the fashion of post-twee indie sleaze, frequently scanning music blogs (like this one), and owning indie as an aesthetic and an attitude, rather than just music from an independent label.
Jordana is releasing her sophomore project (and first proper studio album) Face The Wall on Friday (May 20th), and it’s clear that this era of indie was massively influential to the 21-year-old artist. Soaring harmonies reminiscent of Grizzly Bear and Local Natives are well on display, jangly guitars color each song with a vibrant glow, and her gorgeous singing voice is both emotive and overwhelmingly cool.
Even Face The Wall‘s album cover, which depicts Jordana with a cloud of vape smoke in front of her face, expresses the kind of hazy hues found in Washed Out and Neon Indian’s colorful chillwave.
However, let it be known that Jordana’s concoction is not just a nostalgic play, but a sound that’s entirely her own. She’s ditched the lo-fi bedroom pop sound that characterized her first album (which was a combination of two EPs), Something to Say to You, in favor of a more ambitious and cleanly-produced work. The guitars are more crisp than they’ve ever been, and the songs feel right in line with today’s modern, vocal-driven indie rock sound of Snail Mail and Soccer Mommy.
For Jordana, the message she associates Face The Wall with is “self-growth,” which is a fitting term considering how much more sonically daring and specific the album is. But there’s also an outburst of confidence from her. “What if I told you you were capable of being loved?” she asks on “Get Up,” one of the album’s radiant highlights. “Would you believe me?/ Or would you tell me I’m full of shit?”
These ideas are riddled throughout Face The Wall — on the album’s closer “Why,” she repeatedly asks, “Why do I give a damn?” atop a mountain of angsty guitars and pounding drums, making it pretty clear that she’s tired of caring and would rather rock out instead. On lead single “Catch My Drift,” Jordana confidently remarks that “it’s no mistake to be alone,” basking in the glow of her own independence.
“Catch My Drift” in particular brings the volume to an 11 and adds a dash of 2010s pop-punk in the mix, complete with shimmering electric guitars and even some gang vocals. Though Jordana confessed to Consequence that she was never much of a Warped Tour kid, sometimes her alt rock sensibilities can’t quite be separated from the bombastic and anthemic tones of yesterday’s pop-punk.
But overall, Jordana’s appealing sound is wholly indebted to a clean pop rock sound, channeling as much Avril Lavigne at times as she does her rock heroes The Strokes.
Though the music of Face The Wall can be relatively straightforward indie rock, her enchanting voice is what really separates her from the pack. It’s clear that Jordana’s voice contains a great deal of power, but she wields it very specifically; she does not wail with abandon or reduce her more intimate moments to a mere whisper. Instead, she finds a very delicate balance, and her delightful tone never loses its effectiveness throughout Face The Wall.
Even her softer moments come paired with sweet, lilting harmonies, creating a much larger space for her dynamic voice to inhabit. When the environment is more dreamy, like on “Get Up,” she blends perfectly within her own hazy atmosphere, and when it’s more active and restless, like on “To The Ground,” she brings the right vocals to match.
If Jordana wanted to, she could absolutely be a Top 40-bound pop star — her delicate runs across “Pressure Points” and “Go Slow” point to a singer that’s seriously in command of what her voice can do. She might get there eventually, but currently, Jordana seems more interested in a wholly authentic, guitar-based approach, remaining true to her indie sentiments and, frankly, trying not to do too much. The 10 songs on Face The Wall are a breeze, and she retains a great deal of the beach-y bliss that made her collaborative EP with TV Girl Summer’s Over so infectious.
Perhaps the biggest takeaway from Face The Wall is that Jordana has found a way to blend her influences and musical obsessions together in a way that refuses to be a rehashing of the indie sound she grew up on. She could have easily made an album echoing the crunchy post punk of The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys, or delved into the afro beats and weird poetic musings of Vampire Weekend. Instead, these influences have already manifested themselves in her identity as an artist, and Face The Wall is the sound of a songwriter asking herself, “Okay, now what?”
Though Jordana could benefit from a few more nuanced musical ideas, Face The Wall is a remarkably assured statement from a 21-year-old artist. There are plenty of similar artists in her lane, all with equally stylized aesthetics and approachable auras, but Jordana doesn’t need any of the relatability tactics that some of her fellow pop stars do. She knows she doesn’t have to grab you to get your attention, she doesn’t need to rehash a sound from 10 or 20 years ago, and her confessional songwriting doesn’t need to be overwhelmingly sad to be poignant.
All she has to do is sing and play guitar, and the music is just irresistible.
Essential Tracks: “Get Up,” “To The Ground,” “Go Slow”
Face The Wall Artwork:
On Face The Wall, Jordana Ascends
Paolo Ragusa
Popular Posts
