In The Wild

Album review

Jasmyn Burke was performing as a soloist when guitarist Morgan Waters introduced himself after seeing one of her shows in Toronto. The two traded demos and soon formed Weaves, a group that went on to receive two Juno nominations (Alternative Album of the Year) and make the shortlist for the Polaris Music Prize twice (2017 and 2018) with their only two albums. Burke left the group in 2020 and, seeking out a less hectic lifestyle, relocated to nearby Hamilton, Ontario, to return to working on music of her own. In 2021, she recorded her solo debut with producer John Congleton at his Los Angeles studio, then signed with ANTI- under the mononym Jasmyn. While, like Weaves, landing under the general umbrella of indie pop/rock, the resulting In the Wild is a free-spirited collection of songs that feels unrestrained by timbre or by stylistic influence. It opens with the effervescent "Green Nature," a track that starts with pounding harpsichord and Jasmyn's punky vocal delivery, later incorporating thundering tympani, steady drum kit, and a myriad of keyboard and synth tones including piano as well as buzzing and shimmering electronic textures. A song about transformation, it includes the lyrics "The heavy sighs were just a sign of something needing to change." Many of the songs share the opener's philosophical approach and a kitchen-sink quality organized by rhythm, though differences and unpredictability abound. Coming in at 140 bpm, "Happy Tarot" opts for darker post-punk atmospheres (Joey Waronker, who appears elsewhere, plays toms on the track), the synth-heavy "Killer Instinct" embraces Middle Eastern and hip-hop inspirations, and "Galaxy" arrives at a hard-to-define arty psychedelia ("Look at the stars/Believe the galaxy"). By the time In the Wild arrives at final entry "Purple Reflections," which the songwriter described as "a love song to the mirror," its glitchy, computer-like bleeps, distorted bass, staccato strings, operatic vocal samples, and handclaps seem less chaotic than joyously uninhibited.

© Marcy Donelson /TiVo