by Julia Jacklin
The second full-length album from Australian singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin, Crushing embodies every possible meaning of its title word. It’s an album formed from sheer intensity of feeling, an in-the-moment narrative of heartbreak and infatuation. And with her storytelling centred on bodies and crossed boundaries and smothering closeness, Crushing reveals how our physical experience of the world shapes and sometimes distorts our inner lives.
The follow-up to her 2016 debut Don’t Let the Kids Win, Crushing finds Jacklin continually acknowledging what’s expected of her, then gracefully rejecting those expectations. As a result, the album invites self-examination and a possible shift in the listener’s way of getting around the world—an effect that has everything to do with Jacklin’s openness about her own experience.
In the album-opening lead single 'Body', Jacklin proves the power of that approach, turning out a mesmerizing vocal performance even as she slips into the slightest murmur. A starkly composed portrait of a breakup, the song bears an often-bracing intimacy, a sense that you’re right in the room with Jacklin as she lays her heart out.
Check out the track now and all this week's top tracks below.
THIS WEEK'S TOP TRACKS
Aldous Harding - 'The Barrel'
Carla Geneve - '2001'
Peter Power - 'Silence & Reality feat. Jally & Alan Watts'
Baker Boy - 'Cool As Hell'
Group Gentra Madya - 'Sambal Lada (Hot Chilli)'
Cool Explosions - 'Glass Jars'
Dexter Story - 'Gold (feat. Sudan Archives)'
darvid thor - 'Anything'
Quivers - 'You're Not Always On My Mind'
This week's Top 10:
