Archaic though the idea might seem, a CD copy of Julia Jacklin鈥檚 debut LP, Don鈥檛 Let the Kids Win, sent this way by a friend at the Australian singer/songwriter鈥檚 Canadian label around this time last year has never been more than arm鈥檚 length from a stereo 鈥檙ound Your New Favourite Thing鈥檚 place since.
It鈥檚 just that kind of record, a creeper that doesn鈥檛 immediately announce itself as a keeper, and yet a still a record that you鈥檙e nevertheless compelled to pull out again and again 鈥 and this is where the value of a having a physical product at hand comes into play 鈥 when it鈥檚 sitting there in front of you because you always feel like there鈥檚 more to get from it. Because there鈥檚 always more to get from it.
Jacklin covered a lot of bases on Don鈥檛 Let the Kids Win, from winsome, warbly Americana in the Dolly Parton vein to Joni Mitchell-via-Feist songbird folk to Angel Olsen-esque meta-girl-group pop to, on the wicked single 鈥,鈥 her own version of that most Australian species of sardonic jangle-rock lately popularized by peers like Courtney Barnett and Jen Cloher. On her just-released Polyvinyl 7-inch, 鈥淓astwick/Cold Caller,鈥 however, Jacklin runs with the wit and the musical range she鈥檚 casually flaunted in the past to such an impressive degree over just two tracks and nine minutes that one is left veritably salivating for what鈥檚 to come on the next full-length. The vision seems destined to line up with the voice.
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Sum up what you do in a few simple sentences.
鈥淎t the moment I play electric guitar in a band with my three friends,鈥 says Jacklin. 鈥淲e鈥檙e currently touring my record, Don鈥檛 Let The Kids Win. I spend my free days trying and failing to write something as beautiful as Leonard Cohen鈥檚 鈥楽uzanne.鈥 I鈥檓 from the Blue Mountains in Australia, which is about an hour from Sydney. I write songs for my friends and family, an easier way to express my feelings than in person. If that then means something to a stranger, that is a beautiful thing. I think if you go in expecting people to take something specific from your music you鈥檒l be disappointed. Always better to be surprised.鈥
What鈥檚 a song I need to hear right now?
鈥.鈥 鈥淚t might make for good TV/The grieving process, for all to see/But I don鈥檛 want my father鈥檚 ashes/Scattered over strangers鈥 couches.鈥 Starts there, gets deeper. A long-fused, literate epic. Jacklin is arriving.
Where can I see her play?
At the Drake Underground on Wednesday, Nov. 15, .
Ben Rayner is a Toronto-based journalist and a frequent
contributor to the Star鈥檚 Culture section. Follow him on Twitter:
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