Jane Blanchard's third EP, Still, Again, is full of short and bittersweet slice-of-life moments on feeling displaced, heartbreak, and saying goodbye to people she once cared about. Following her 2017 EP Narcissus and her 2018 EP Enemy, the Fredericton, NB, singer-songwriter has once again paired up with drummer Stefan Westner to bring the five tracks on Still, Again to life. At times, Blanchard's soft indie fuzz-rock sound can be stifled under itself, but her penmanship does not fail when it comes to delivering an eerie and intimate atmosphere that makes the listener feel as though they're experiencing the same moment alongside her.
Blanchard's sound and lyrics have always been ghostly and tinged with melancholy, even on songs with a warmer or more hopeful undertone. "Missing Me" eases listeners into the EP, a slow-burning track with a vintage quality that finds Blanchard wishing she could put her trust into a new love after growing accustomed to self-doubt. There are moments where Blanchard's voice lacks presence and fades into more of an afterthought, monotonously buried underneath the instrumentals, like on "Still, Again" and "Settle." It's no doubt intentional, but the overpowering layers of sound on top of Blanchard's lyrics remain foggy.
Still, the lulling, swaying-alone-drunk-in-your-bedroom quality of the EP wraps listeners in a blanket of familiarity. The stripped down closer "Take Me Home" sounds like a page torn straight out of Blanchard's diary. Listeners feel Blanchard's isolation, wistfulness and hesitant hopefulness, and can identify those same feelings in themselves.
(Gerry Loves Records)Blanchard's sound and lyrics have always been ghostly and tinged with melancholy, even on songs with a warmer or more hopeful undertone. "Missing Me" eases listeners into the EP, a slow-burning track with a vintage quality that finds Blanchard wishing she could put her trust into a new love after growing accustomed to self-doubt. There are moments where Blanchard's voice lacks presence and fades into more of an afterthought, monotonously buried underneath the instrumentals, like on "Still, Again" and "Settle." It's no doubt intentional, but the overpowering layers of sound on top of Blanchard's lyrics remain foggy.
Still, the lulling, swaying-alone-drunk-in-your-bedroom quality of the EP wraps listeners in a blanket of familiarity. The stripped down closer "Take Me Home" sounds like a page torn straight out of Blanchard's diary. Listeners feel Blanchard's isolation, wistfulness and hesitant hopefulness, and can identify those same feelings in themselves.