Don’t be fooled by Julia Jacklin’s soft and fragile voice on the opening track “Body,” off her sophomore album Crushing—the Australian singer/songwriter’s lyrics pack a punch. In the song, Jacklin tells the story about an ex-lover getting caught smoking in an airplane bathroom, which leads to her leaving him: “I know you’d like to believe it baby/ But you’re more kid than criminal.” From the slow melancholy murmur of “Body,” the album takes a faster tempo with “Head Alone.” But the song’s lyrics still fit with the album’s overarching theme, which Jacklin describes as “all-in-the moment narrative of heartbreak and infatuation.” Other standout tracks include “Turn Me Down” and “Good Guy.” Rather than burying song meaning in metaphors, Jacklin lays everything out in the open on Crushing, making it the best album released this year so far.
-Adrian Lysenko
4.5/5
