A return to peak form for the Australian, who crafts ballads with shifting radiance and devoted to love in all its moods.
Less well-known than her compatriot Courtney Barnett, perhaps because she stayed in her homeland, the Australian singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist is nevertheless a high-caliber songwriter.
The prestigious label 4AD did not miss the mark either, inviting her to stand alongside Aldous Harding, Big Thief, and U.S. Girls. And indeed, how could one resist the rhythm motif of Brand New, an independence declaration framed by a clear and vibrant timbre?
A Conjunction of Ferocity and Modesty
From the opening of The Gem, Julia Jacklin reminds us of her knack for taut riffs, her radiant inspiration… and her stubborn pursuit of accuracy, both sonically and narratively. Contributing are the pedal steel on the hypnotic God Sometimes, the post-grunge ballad The Hardest Thing, and the airy folk of Angel Vision. Also featured are the staccato beat of Real Life, the piano-vocal spareness of You Turned On the Tap, and the harmonious duo with the folky-singing sisters of The Maes in I Wish.
Named The Gem after a Melbourne bar that Julia Jacklin frequented regularly after settling there, this fourth album is also a nod to her favorite gemstone, the opal, whose shifting reflections find an echo in these new songs.
A decade after her debut, Julia Jacklin still sings, with as much ardor as metaphorical modesty, of love in all its states: budding, galvanizing, disappointing, vanished—the love we bear for others and, for better or worse, for oneself.
The Gem (4AD/Wagram). Release on September 25. Live in concert at Cabaret Sauvage, Paris, on February 27, 2027.
