From North Carolina, US
Recommended if you like Fiona Apple, Anaïs Mitchell, Indigo Girls
Up next New album The Hermit out now; touring the US with Jens Lekman in November
Jordan Patterson’s name is unfortunately so close to that of a certain conservative Canadian author that Google suggests autocorrecting your search results when you look her up. The 23-year-old US songwriter couldn’t be much further from his brand of hypermasculine evangelism. Her debut album, The Hermit, recalls the rich 90s scene of offbeat North American female singer-songwriters who would go on to share the stage at Lilith Fair: Shawn Colvin’s acoustic breeziness, Fiona Apple’s earnest blues, Indigo Girls’ strident joy. (Similar era, very different scene: Patterson’s voice has an expressive skippiness that also channels Life Without Buildings’ Sue Tompkins.) Her songs – and I say this as the greatest compliment – could easily have lived on the soundtrack to cosy mother-daughter drama Gilmore Girls. Fittingly, God wonders whether she should have a baby, and Hey Mama pays tribute to her own mother, pairing the scrappy triumph of Tom Petty’s Free Fallin’ with impressionistic vocals that feel like a singer nudging her way towards revelation.
Patterson grew up in North Carolina and moved to Los Angeles as a kid, in part so the family could support her brother’s dreams of becoming an actor. She studied at the starry LA County High School for the Arts (alumni include Phoebe Bridgers and Haim) and also wanted to act – until music became her thing, her taste evolving beyond the family’s soul records and church background when she discovered Radiohead and Nick Drake. After her brother and grandmother died, she scrapped her plan to study acting, no longer able to pretend to be other people, and threw herself into music. Since then, she’s supported Cameron Winter and soon heads out on a US tour with Jens Lekman. Feels like the good kind of cult success lies her way. Laura Snapes
This week’s best new tracks
Beverly Glenn-Copeland – Let Us Dance
Glenn-Copeland celebrates his relationship with his wife, Elizabeth, in this revamped version of a Keyboard Fantasies song, a hymnal benediction about joy and movement featuring a new choral accompaniment.
Oklou – Viscus ft FKA twigs
“Sometimes I’m so fragile / As if someone else’s face feels more like home,” the French producer trills, smartly contrasting trance’s diaphanous high end with lyrics about the difficulty of feeling grounded.
Haim – Tie You Down ft Bon Iver
Can Danielle Haim and Justin Vernon just start a sensual gospel duo already? “I want you here but I don’t know how,” they sing, channelling the starry-eyed yearning of their recent records. Sounds like you do, actually, guys!
Jessica Moss – One, Now ft Tony Buck
From the Canadian musician and Thee Silver Mt Zion member’s first full ambient album, a dusky invocation of Middle Eastern music is darkened and disturbed by shaky percussion and an ominous vocal chorus.
Madison Cunningham – Break the Jaw
Frustration bristles through this account of a broken relationship that neither side can forgive or forget, the California songwriter’s voice full of recrimination for both parties as ornate woodwind darts around her.
Jay Som – Past Lives ft Hayley Williams
From the Death Cab school of cold-weather melancholy, this crunchy collab between Melina Duterte and the Paramore frontwoman is the perfect accompaniment to getting introspective as the dark nights draw in.
Ouri – Paris ft Oli XL
“Mmm-mm I like it,” the Montreal producer sings on a sumptuous ode to discovering the possibilities of her city as a teenager out until dawn: the production flickers with playful touches and nocturnal intrigue.
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