a few of the world's most underrated masterpieces pt 1
chance - angel olsen
God turn me into a flower - weyes blood
what you did - hannah jadagu
april fool - hana vu
pedestal / cover me - vera blue
worth it - yas
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going over my top albums of 2023 and realizing now that this year's list is… really fucking white. which is a shame! considering there were quite a few albums by black artists that i had been meaning to check out this year but never did. so i think for the last month of the year i'll try to go through as many as i can, but i would like to start with albums i think i would enjoy. so,
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Album Review - 'Aperture' - Hannah Jadagu
Hannah Jadagu’s debut EP was a quiet revelation.
Armed with a guitar, an iPhone and an iRig, the Texas-born singer/songwriter produced a restless and often solitary coming of age with her 2021 EP, What is Going On?
‘My Bones’ is deceptively serene, Jadagu expressing her fears about becoming yet another statistic in the wake of George Floyd’s murder as the countless missing persons cases involving Black women across the US weigh heavy on her psyche. ‘Think Too Much,’ another standout track, saw Gen Z anxiety set against a shoegazey backdrop, while ‘Bleep Bloop’ found Jadagu feeling overwhelmed in the pandemic era.
Although the singer/songwriter expands her sonic horizons on her first full-length album, Aperture, Jadagu’s raw, angst-fuelled lyricism beautifully remain.
Opening the record with a soaring, wistful ‘Explanation,’ Jadagu soon reintroduces is to her anxieties on the bittersweet 90s groove of ‘Say It Now.’ ‘I've been trying to find the line/Is it best if I don’t try?’ she asks. ‘Should I have called? Nervousness won/Now I'm picking up the pieces, something went wrong.’
It’s been said that the breakdown of a friendship can be just as emotionally devastating as a romantic breakup, sometimes more so. Jadagu herself likens ‘Say It Now’ to experiencing the stages of grief in a breakdown of Aperture on Apple Music. The sequel track, ‘What You Did,’ however, finds the singer/songwriter in a stronger and more secure place, led by a determined chug of guitars that feel almost industrial at times, providing a jagged contrast to its dreamier verses.
Elsewhere, Jadagu is crushing hard (‘Lose’), coating a New Wave-style pulse with a jaded 90s indie grime, and dreaming on a Sunday (‘Dreaming’), evoking early Incubus with a hip hop/alt-rock fusion. She sounds almost SZA-esque on ‘Warning Sign’ with her softer vocals and slick, jazzy groove, setting a late-night mood perfect for ruminating. ‘Place me in a space that's not there/Am I supposed to say, "I don't care"?’ she wonders, trying to remain grounded in such an unpredictable and volatile industry, feeling the pressure to say ‘yes’ to every opportunity that comes along.
The big standout, though, is ‘Admit It.’ Dedicated to her older sister, Tymie, the track is made up of synthesised pipes and slippery, discordant beats, with Jadagu’s gentle vocals ring out from the dreamy deep, trying to reach out as best as she can (' I will admit I want to be there for you/All of the times that you have helped me through/Hate that you think that I would just ignore you/Second to breathe will get me back in tune’). It instantly calls to mind the hazy and heartfelt nostalgia of The Japanese House, who Jadagu cites as an influence.
The emotional one-two punch of ‘Letter to Myself’ and ‘Your Thoughts Are Ur Own Obstacles’ provides a perfect end to Aperture. The former is stark and strangely comforting, almost dreamlike with its crystalline synths; the latter sways gently in her breeze with its resplendent harmonies, making the mundane feeling rather whimsical. ‘Yesterday, I called my friends all up again/They didn't know, but I was steady caving in/Forgot my thoughts for long enough, thanks to them,’ she tells herself, painfully relatable for anyone out there who has felt their mental fabric slowly begin to unravel.
Wonderfully lush and atmospheric, Aperture sees a more mature Jadagu coming into focus as she transitions from adolescence to adulthood. The production is richer and more fleshed-out, with producer Max Robert Baby proving well-attuned to Jadagu’s indie sensibilities, while her writing still has that raw, diary-like charm to it, finding immense strength in her vulnerability.
Much like her previous EP, Aperture is the perfect soundtrack to a restless coming of age.
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