Cassandra Jenkins "My Light, My Destroyer" (2024)

My Light, My Destroyer

release date: Jul. 12, 2024

format: vinyl / digital (18 x File, FLAC) (Deluxe Edition)

[album rate: 4 / 5] [4,06]

producer: Andrew Lappin, Cassandra Jenkins

label: Dead Oceans - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Devotion" (4 / 5) - 2. "Clams Casino" - 3. "Delphinium Blue" (4 / 5) - 5. "Aurora, IL" - 6. "Betelgeuse" (4 / 5) - 7. "Omakase" (4 / 5) - 9. "Petco" - 11. "Tape and Tissue" - 12. "Only One" - *15. "Hailey / Hayley (Only One)" - *17. "Stardust"

* Bonus track on Deluxe Edition

3rd studio album by Cassandra Jenkins following the acclaimed An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (Feb. 2021) and more recently the following release of demos and outtakes released as (An Overview on) An Overview on Phenomenal Nature (Nov. 2021). The standard vinyl and cd issues of the album contains 13 tracks with a total running time of just under 37 minutes. The digital Deluxe Edition (and the 2-disc cd issue) extends the running time to 52 minutes [ find it on bandcamp ]. The title of the album comes from the song "Omakase" and its chorus lines: "My lover - My light - My destroyer - My meteorite".

The album is held in the same original style and tone as her 2021 album. It's therefore made with a distinct sense for sophistication. It's a perfect blend of new age, jazz, indie rock, sophisti-pop, and with delicate use of field recordings. A couple of the bonus tracks are more experimental with bold use of field recordings and less focus on coherency - especially track #17, "Stardust" appears as one long experimental. The album is, however, no less than yet another amazing release. The whole album is meant for attentive listening and it works as a complete work - and more so than a collection of individual songs.

My Light, My Destroyer is one of this year's absolute best albums. For now, it's in my top-3, but I only suspect it to go higher.

Highly recommended.

[ allmusic.com, Uncut 4,5 / 5, 👍Pitchfork 8,0 / 10, 👍Mojo, The Guardian, Slant 4 / 5 stars ]

2024 Favourite releases: 1. Adrienne Lenker Bright Future - 2. Hurray for the Riff-Raff The Past Is Still Alive - 3. Cassandra Jenkins My Light, My Destroyer

Cassandra Jenkins "Play Till You Win" (2017)

Play Till You Win [debut]

release date: Apr. 7, 2017

format: digital (11 x File, FLAC)

[album rate: 3,5 / 5] [3,42]

producer: Cassandra Jenkins & Sam Owens

label: self-released - nationality: USA

Track highlights: 1. "Candy Crane" (live) - 2. "Tennessee Waltz" - 5. "Red Lips" - 6. "Disappearing" - 9. "Disco Death Dance" - 10. "Some Time" - 11. "Halley" (live)

Full-length studio album debut by Cassandra Jenkins is a decent first-attempt where she already upholds a certain self-reliance as someone who's been around much longer. And that is something, which is stressed by how the album is both a coherent and nicely varied experience. She has her own laid-back singing style and maturely builds on classic folk rock and country of the 70s without sounding dated. What lacks, are stronger personal songs and some of the original quality you'll find on her later releases, but all in all, Play Till You Win is a fine debut.

[ The Line of Best Fit 7,5 / 10 stars ]