Dutch-British songwriter Tessa Rose Jackson has unveiled her most intimate and compelling work to date with the album The Lighthouse, marking a significant artistic rebirth. Moving away from the dream-pop stylings of her previous projects under the moniker Someone, Jackson embraces acoustic clarity and raw emotional depth in this luminous collection.
A Journey Through Memory and Loss
The warm, resonant tones of folk guitar anchor the album, evoking influences ranging from Bert Jansch to REM and Sharon Van Etten in every nuanced strum and atmospheric squeak. Recorded alone in the tranquil setting of rural France, this fourth album delves profoundly into themes of ancestry, mortality, and personal memory, offering a richer and more textured listening experience than her earlier work.
Poetic Exploration of Grief
The title track, The Lighthouse, sets the tone with its haunting arrangement of perfect fifths, mournful woodwind, and thunderous percussion, painting a vivid journey toward a beacon of hope. Jackson's lyrics are deeply informed by the loss of one of her two mothers during her teenage years, lending a poignant authenticity to songs like The Bricks That Make the Building and Gently Now. Her approach to grief is inquisitive and poetic, transforming sorrow into something quietly powerful and refreshingly honest.
Dynamic Musical Range
While rooted in folk traditions, the album showcases a dynamic range with poppier production that buoys its spry limbs. Tracks such as Fear Bangs the Drum and Wild Geese resonate with the confident energy of contemporaries like This Is the Kit or Aldous Harding. Built to Collide, driven by percussive violin shivers and pacy drums, stands out as a potential radio favourite, blending accessibility with artistic integrity.
Jackson's voice is a captivating instrument in its own right, assured yet never smug, effortlessly floating between delicate vulnerability and spirited sprechgesang. It shines brightest in simpler compositions like the piano-led Grace Notes, the closing track Prizefighter, and the beautiful By Morning, which opens with a guitar melody reminiscent of a Paul Simon classic.
Other Notable Releases This Month
In addition to Jackson's standout album, several other folk and experimental releases are making waves this month. Irish folk band Ye Vagabonds present their fourth album, All Tied Together, produced by Philip Weinrobe of Big Thief fame. The record thrums with slow-burning, moving songs populated by arresting characters, from "troubled teens and drag queens" to youths "swimming in a river of smoke and serotonin."
Adam Weikert's To Whom Ourselves We Owe offers an engagingly gutsy and noisy exploration of traditional songs, while Nomad War Machine and Susan Alcorn's Contra Madre pushes boundaries by thrillingly mixing pedal steel with death metal elements.
Overall, Tessa Rose Jackson's The Lighthouse represents not just a musical evolution but a luminous rebirth, where loss is masterfully transformed into art that resonates with grace and power.
