Fans of Jordana are eating well. After all the excitement around Classical Notions of Happiness, her breakout LP, it’s hard not to be hungry for more.
Classical Notions of Happiness plays with so many different textures and flavors; no matter what recipe she’s tackling, she’s going to put her signature on it and let it shine through. Now, with her new EP Something to Say, Jordana promises her fans an authentic 6-course experience, no track sounding too much like the one preceding it. If you needed any more proof that she can do it all, here it is. Bon appetit.
“I’ll Take It Boring,” the staying-at-home anthem that fits 2020 all too well, is the perfect dance-around-your-room song. Jordana’s legato vocals and uptempo beats are eerily relaxing; there’s nothing better than hearing a song about relaxing that’s enthusiastic, almost overjoyed, by the prospect of staying in. As someone who’s constantly pressuring myself to do the most, “I’ll Take It Boring” is the push I need to accept that staying in can be exacting what I need.
“Guaranteed” lets a gorgeous soundscape emerge over time before Jordana’s vocals reach new, exciting heights. The lyrics are so impassioned and the instrumentation is so understated, it feels like the sense of relief when you finally settle into a beanbag chair. What starts like freefall lands squarely into complete and total relaxation.
“Hitman” is red hot, burning with severity and a call to action that makes me feel like I need to pack my bags for war with my own mind. But where “Hitman” externalizes intensity, “Big” brings it back in and bottles it into an iron core of confidence. Listening to “Big” inspires me to exude confidence like I’ve never felt before. If “Hitman” feels like combustion, “Big” feels like radiance.
“The lyrics are so impassioned and the instrumentation is so understated, it feels like the sense of relief when you finally settle into a beanbag chair.”
“Far Away from You” is the anthem all of us need for those “friends” we’ve had who drain the life out of us. The piercing instrumental background adds daggers to Jordana’s vocals, leading me to feel a sense of righteous indignation. Her story is captivating, and by the end of the first chorus, I can’t help but think of all the people in my own life whose presence leads to pain. Like Jordana, I’d do anything to give younger me the permission to escape.
“Forgetter” might be my favorite. Substituting rough intensity for smooth power, this is a symphony that jumps between intimate verses and a cavernous chorus. Of all the tracks on this EP, this one feels the breeziest to me, radically interior but still formidable. It feels like an autumn walk down a busy sidewalk where I’ve convinced myself it’s time to make some radical changes for the better.
“Like Jordana, I’d do anything to give younger me the permission to escape.”
Something to Say offers those exact radical changes for the better. Still authentically Jordana, the 6 tracks on this EP show that she has no plans to stop evolving and experimenting, completely ravaging my brain with new tastes and sensations I didn’t realize could come from such matter-of-fact pop music. It can only get better from here.
Devon (he/him) is a Cleveland-based event organizer. He loves radical theory, loud guitars, and hash browns. He lives on Twitter.
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