ella jane dives into herself in her catchy, cathartic, and brutally trustworthy ‘Marginalia,’ an totally irresistible coming-of-age report of queer id and inside reckoning. If she was a star on the rise final 12 months, then take into account her star now risen and shining brightly.
for followers of Charli Adams, Lorde, girlhouse, Abby Holliday
Stream: “Warhol” – ella jane
What rising up actually is, I’ve come to search out, is the flexibility to confess to your self the truths you knew all alongside.
Tright here’s a ton we will take away simply from the title of ella jane’s sophomore EP.
Marginalia is an embrace of the stuff on the edges – per its definition, the phrases within the margins. It’s a lightweight shined onto the sidelines, the place the sunshine hardly ever shines. It’s an embrace of life’s finer particulars; the elaborations; the little notes we make to ourselves as we go about our every day lives. It’s all these fleeting feelings and passing concepts we are inclined to overwhelmingly maintain to ourselves – the hopes, the fears, the insecurities, and the daydreams – all of which could very effectively by no means materialize, had been they not willed into existence, captured in writing after which sung in track.
These songs hit exhausting, and each single one in all them leaves a mark. Catchy and cathartic, intimate and unapologetic, Marginalia is the irresistible report of a queer 20-year-old artist coming of age in New York. It’s a snapshot of life lived briefly tales; the blueprints of an id within the midst of its personal journey of self-discovery.
I’m wondering what you consider me
or when you’re considering something i
hope in your head you’re good to me
are you able to see it clearly now
trigger these days i don’t have a form
I’m blurry strains with no face
so if you would like i’ll rearrange
switching all the colours out
i’ve been ready without end to be observed
up on a white wall
i maintain twisting the picture til i’m not myself in any respect
‘trigger you’re keen on andy warhol
– “Warhol,” ella jane
Launched October 28, 2022 by way of FADER Label, Marginalia is aching emotion channeled via elegant indie pop perfection. “I’m a sore loser who all the time falls for the winner,” ella jane sings three tracks in – and whereas she is definitely entitled to really feel that method at occasions, there isn’t any mistaking that she is the general winner right here.
It was solely about one 12 months in the past that we had been proclaiming jane “a star on the rise” for her debut EP THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE!, a 25-minute showcase of lyrical prowess, uncooked vocal expertise, and an acute capacity to bundle each second with hints of darkness and lightweight, ache and sweetness.
“In many ways, she reminds us of The Love Club-era Lorde, both in her dynamic indie pop ethos and in her ability to capture fleeting emotions and special little moments in time,” we wrote at the time. “An intimate and electric indie pop experience, jane’s THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! is a vulnerable and honest coming-of-age record that leaves no stone unturned and no feeling untapped. It’s euphoric; it’s limitless and immortal; it’s heartbroken; it’s anxious and depressed.”
THIS IS NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE! spawned the hits “nothing else i could do” and “bored&blind,” introducing jane as an artist-to-watch and setting her off on the whirlwind that has been her very busy 2022.
Marginalia takes jane’s art to the next level, finding her diving even deeper into herself while simultaneously honing her already sharp pop sensibilities into an edgy, unparalleled singular force.
Produced by Mike Irish, this nine-track collection, which could very well be considered a debut album or mini-album (if she wanted to call it that), is as intimate as it is expansive: Brutally honest and beautifully soul-stirring, Marginalia cuts deep.
“Marginalia was my first real attempt at starting an entire project from scratch, so I think there was a lot more intention put into it – a lot of asking myself, ‘What do I really want to say?‘” ella jane tells Atwood Magazine. “I think that question made me feel a lot of pressure at first, mostly because my songs are typically so diaristic and autobiographical. What can I say that means something, that hasn’t been said before? But as soon as I started writing, I realized that I didn’t HAVE to make some grand statement; rather, the simple act of documenting my own coming-of-age as a queer 20 year old living in New York was statement enough.”
“I think that originally, I only had a very loose idea of what I wanted the album’s sonic, visual, and conceptual identities to be. And I’m super glad it stayed that way, because that lack of structure really allowed me to write freely instead of within whatever confines I set for myself. Like, I think I had originally imagined it taking a brighter sound more akin to “Time On” (the first song I wrote for the record). But as more songs started to take shape, most began lending themselves to a much warmer and richer sound. So figuring out that sound first and letting the rest follow felt much more natural.”
“To me, this album is my first real cohesive project. I feel like it’s the best reflection of my current tastes and writing style, without being derivative of my influences. I’m definitely proud of my last EP, but I’m excited to put a new foot forward with Marginalia – I think it’s the perfect introduction to my “world” for new listeners.”
Someone’s house with a city view
And a girl I’ve known for a day or two
Light a cigarette by the outdoor pool
If I hold my breath will you jump in too?
All of a sudden, I melt into you
And I don’t even know you,
But I’ll act like I do, ‘cause
I always end up doing shit like this
Saying “I love you” for a party trick
Drink your attention ‘til it makes me sick
Just for the night, I’ll make you mine
Just for the night, just for the night
Much has already been made of the record’s reflective title; for jane, Marginalia is the perfect encapsulation of all that’s within.
“The word “marginalia” literally means writing in the margins,” she explains. “It’s a title I’ve had written down for a long time, because annotating as a concept has always been super interesting to me; I’ve read with a pen in hand since high school. Most of my songs have a line or two that were inspired by something in a book I read, or from a movie or show I’ve seen. Even from real life conversations. So to me, these songs felt like annotations on a larger scale – a way for me to interact with and “mark up” the events in my own life as they happened or after the fact.”
“I used to think that growing up was synonymous with hitting certain milestones, like a driver’s license, or an 18th birthday, or maybe a high school graduation,” she adds. “But it’s not, of course it’s not. What it really is, I’ve come to find, is the ability to admit to yourself the truths you knew all along. Once you do that, you can start telling the truth to other people. And once you do that, you can start growing up. This project is a coming of age story. And if I want to connect to an audience who is also coming of age, then it is imperative I tell them my own truths.”
That coming-of-age story opens with the rising confessional “7,” a song about childhood and family and the indelible impact of our younger years on the person we eventually become. A reckoning and a realization all in one, it sets the tone for all that’s to come, catching that perfect blend of earworm melodies and unapologetically expressive lyricism that makes jane’s art so special. Previously released singles like “Party Trick” and “How Do I Lose You” served as particularly strong examples of jane’s poppier side – and indeed, “indie pop” is probably the right “box” to put her in, if you feel so inclined to do so – but as a comprehensive project, Marginalia is a blend of indie rock, folk, soul, alt-pop, and so much more.
“I really love the song ‘Sore Loser,’ because the style of it is the type of production I typically gravitate towards when I listen to music,” jane says. “As much as I love pop, it was really refreshing to give myself a little departure from my usual sound. I’m [also] really proud of the lyrics in “You Shouldn’t Have Said That” – there’s a couple moments in there that I spent weeks on, tweaking small words and syllables in a really calculated way. That really paid off. I feel like up until this record, I never really let myself have a moment to be silly and lighthearted in a song. But I snuck in this verse: “I st-stutter around you / called a speech pathologist / she said to fuck off and see my psychologist / looked for distractions, I found none at college / just rich kids from jersey and part-time astrologists / still thought about you, just now i know communists.” I think it’s fun.
If ella jane was a star on the rise last year, then consider her star now risen and shining brightly.
jane is currently in the midst of a nearly sold-out Marginalia headline tour that began in Boston in late October, and concludes in San Diego at the end of November. The tour is set to pick up again in early February.
As far as takeaways are concerned, jane definitely injected herself into this EP in a massive way – even if she doesn’t always identify with her confident, self-assured public persona. “This sounds kind of cheesy, but I genuinely just hope that listeners can relate to my experiences somehow,” she shares. “That’s all I can ask for as an artist. There’s no real takeaway for me besides that.”
A truly stunning and welcome October surprise, Marginalia is breathtaking in the best of ways. Whether you find yourself falling for ella jane’s repeated heart-on-sleeve proclamations of “I wanna be in love,” or see yourself as “blurry lines without a face,” this coming-of-age record embodies everything there is to love about musical inner reckoning and introspection. In discovering herself in the margins, ella jane creates a vessel through which we can dive deeper and connect with who we really are as well.
Experience the full record via our below stream, and peek inside ella jane’s Marginalia with Atwood Magazine as the artist goes track-by-track through the music and lyrics of her sophomore EP!
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:: stream/purchase ella jane here ::
Stream: ‘Marginalia’ – ella jane
:: Inside Marginalia ::
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7
It is a track about childhood, household, and the way the place you’re from can profoundly form you (even when you by no means realized it). It’s my private try and confront the previous whereas concurrently making peace with it. What initially started as a letter to my twin brother shortly morphed into an apology to my youthful self- I by no means confirmed her sufficient love then, so “7” is my method of exhibiting it now.
TIME ON
“Time On” is about eager to really feel desired / questioning why you aren’t when confronted with rejection. It’s a standard expertise however an usually embarrassing and susceptible admission, so I hope that this track is a method for listeners to really feel understood and validated in a sense that’s not likely brazenly talked about. This was such a rewarding track to complete as a result of the writing course of took so lengthy – virtually six months – and every time I pay attention I’m reminded of all of the work that went into it. I wrote the chords in my childhood bed room on my faculty winter break final 12 months; sketched out the verses throughout midterms on a dingy apply room piano; completed the refrain lyrics every week later whereas buzzing within the communal showers.
SORE LOSER
“Sore Loser” is one in all my favourite tracks on the EP. It’s a track about two forms of jealousy: the type that develops when different individuals begin flirting with the individual you want, and the type you’re feeling in direction of the individual you want. The latter tends to be a uniquely queer expertise, but it surely’s one that’s as embarrassing as it’s isolating. Sadly, each are the price of being somebody whose “sort” is simply exceptionally lovely individuals… and each are the results of private insecurity. What I like about “Sore Loser” is how effectively the nice and cozy, laid-back manufacturing lends itself to the tongue-in-cheek lyrical type – the end result is a light-hearted but trustworthy exploration of that insecurity.
PARTY TRICK
“Social gathering Trick” represents a variety of new and thrilling beginnings for me – for one, it’s the primary track I’ve ever launched that’s conspicuously, unmistakably a few woman. Although I’ve been open about my bisexuality for some time now, for a very long time I used to be afraid to write down about ladies in any apparent method. I believe it’s because I wasn’t able to be totally trustworthy with myself. However piecing collectively “Social gathering Trick” jogged my memory simply why I write songs: to entry my truest, most susceptible self, unadulterated by the expectations of others.
Secondly, this track marks the start of a brand new chapter in my life, and I believe that basically shines via within the music itself. I’ve discovered an unbelievable collaborator in my producer Mike Irish, who is aware of precisely how you can marry the choice and pop qualities of my writing in a extremely distinctive method.
YOU SHOULDN’T HAVE SAID THAT
Ow. Intestine punch of a track. I wrote the majority of it in half-hour proper after a really disappointing facetime name: the man I preferred on the time had simply advised me about some wonderful date he went on. Our friendship had been fairly flirty for some time, however as we grew to become higher mates and started to share extra of our private lives with one another, that meant listening to about all these ladies he was into. So on this explicit day it simply stung further exhausting to take heed to him recount the main points of his night time, figuring out what he’d stated to me prior to now. Therefore the road “you shouldn’t have referred to as me fairly and suppose I’d overlook it / my reminiscence’s shitty, however god, it’s selective” – top-of-the-line, most painful lyrics I’ve ever written. That ache turns into much more delightfully pronounced when it’s adopted by the large distorted synth lead (a staple of David Marinelli, who produced the track) that appears to howl and weep because it tears via the guitar and soars throughout the drums. I’m so happy with this track, and in a wierd method, so glad to have encapsulated this ache in such a particular method.
HOW DO I LOSE YOU
“How Do I Lose You” is a quintessential instance of how a lot I like to pair pretty sad lyrics with upbeat, danceable music. I get such a kick out of tricking the listener like that. So regardless of its fast tempo and jumpy melody, the observe is actually in regards to the anxiousness of being in an undefined, “let’s see the place this goes” sort of (non-)relationship. Musically, it’s undoubtedly one in all my poppier efforts, however I like the best way the manufacturing form of indie-fies it. A part of that’s really because of Orla Gartland (though I don’t suppose she is aware of it but); I used to be actually impressed by this video she posted some time again the place she explains how she duct-taped the strings of an upright piano to create this muted, mallet-y sound in her track “Extra Like You.” I attempted the trick on my piano at house, and shortly began bringing a roll of duct tape with me each time I went to the studio. It instantly grew to become a extremely massive element of the feel of “How Do I Lose You,” and later many different tracks on my forthcoming EP.
WARHOL
A duplicate of a duplicate of a duplicate; so many variations of the factor that the factor itself loses all that means. It is a motif that runs all through a lot of Andy Warhol’s work, and one which impressed me. Nonetheless, whereas Warhol used it as a commentary on client tradition and superstar iconography, I associated it to one thing somewhat extra private: my very own id. I really had the title “Warhol” sitting in my notes part for a very long time earlier than I began writing it, and initially deliberate for it to be a track about this man who advised me I remind him of his girlfriend.
One thing form of enjoyable and silly. However quickly the road “‘Trigger these days I don’t have a form / I’m blurry strains with no face” spilled out, and it shortly grew to become apparent that I used to be writing about myself. I’ve all the time been an enormous believer in pretend it until you make it, however the acceptance of my public persona – a way more assured, confident woman – as ME has made me query who the true me really is. So briefly, this track is an exploration of that.
I WANNA
“I Wanna” might be my favourite track of mine up to now. I initially recorded the refrain thought someday in 2021, however I actually bear in mind considering it will simply lie dormant without end – I simply couldn’t see the track going wherever. That was, till final summer season, when a co-writing session discovered me addled with author’s block. As I dug via my voice memos in a determined seek for some seed, ANY seed, I stumbled throughout that first voice recording. The mumbled “I wanna be in love”s had been sufficient to spark inspiration, and I used to be in a position to lay down the piano half and map out a tentative verse melody. The remainder of the track got here collectively within the type of late-night notes app poetry, then first drafts, then second after which third. High quality-tuning the lyrics within the studio as soon as I felt they had been near-perfect, I labored with [co-writer] Steph Jones and [producer] Mike Irish to seize the coming-of-age feeling we had been going for. To me, “I wanna” feels just like the end result of so many moments, each in my life and inside the mission. However in the end, it’s a uncooked admission of the common want to like and be cherished, triumphant but susceptible because it programs via the electrical veins of a synth-pop anthem.
CRASH CART
If I’m being completely trustworthy, I did write this track about Cassie and Nate from Euphoria. However it will be untruthful and a bit annoying of me to inform you that it’s in no way autobiographical; frankly, I empathized with Cassie greater than I’d wish to admit. For individuals who haven’t seen the present – Cassie is a woman who will do something to vie for the eye of Nate, who she has fallen in love with regardless of his abusive tendencies and romantic historical past together with her greatest pal, Maddy. Cassie is aware of that in Nate’s thoughts, she is going to all the time be second to Maddy, however she nonetheless goes via determined measures to cling onto him as tightly as attainable. As a result of so long as he’s together with her and never Maddy, Cassie can persuade herself that she is the woman Nate actually needs. HEAVY, I do know, however I believe many people can discover ourselves in Cassie’s plight (even when we’d by no means say it out loud). Actually, all any of us need is to have the individual we lengthy for need us again – so you probably have them even somewhat, wouldn’t you do the whole lot in you possibly can to maintain them in your clutches just a bit longer? That is what “Crash Cart” is about: these determined, egocentric elements of us that yearn for love even when we all know we’ll get damage within the course of.
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