Following the release of acclaimed singles ‘Pristine’ and ‘Heat Wave’, Snail Mail today shares a third song from debut album Lush (out June 8 on Matador), which showcases a softer, more restrained facet of Lindsey Jordan’s songwriting. ‘Let’s Find An Out,’ her personal crown jewel of the album, puts the 18-year-old songwriter’s childhood classical guitar training on display. Layering a warm folk-inspired melody with quick arpeggios, Jordan’s intricate playing pairs perfectly with her pensive words of longing. Listen here.
One of the most talked-about new artists of the year, Snail Mail has been tipped by the The Sunday Times, The Observer, Time Out, profiled by the Washington Post, W Magazine, Billboard and Pitchfork among many others, and her songs featured in countless online and Spotify playlists since the beginning of 2018.
Throughout Lush, Jordan’s clear and powerful voice, acute sense of pacing, and razor-sharp writing cut through the chaos and messiness of growing up: the passing trends, the awkward house parties, the sick-to-your-stomach crushes and the heart wrenching breakups. Jordan’s most masterful skill is in crafting tension, working with muted melodrama that builds and never quite breaks, stretching out over moody rockers and soft-burning hooks, making for visceral slow-releases that stick under the skin.
Lush feels at times like an emotional rollercoaster, only fitting for Jordan’s explosive, dynamic personality. Growing up in Baltimore suburb Ellicot City, Jordan began her guitar training at age five, and a decade later wrote her first audacious songs as Snail Mail. Around that time, Jordan started frequenting local shows in Baltimore, where she formed close friendships within the local scene, the impetus for her to form a band. By the time she was sixteen, she had already released her debut EP, Habit, on local punk label Sister Polygon Records.
In the time that’s elapsed since Habit, Jordan has graduated high school, toured the country, opened for the likes of Girlpool and Waxahatchee as well as selling out her own headline shows, and participated in a round-table discussion for the New York Times about women in punk — giving her time to reflect and refine her songwriting process by using tempered pacings and alternate tunings to create a jawdropping debut both thoughtful and cathartic. Recorded with producer Jake Aron and engineer Jonny Schenke, with contributions from touring bandmates drummer Ray Brown and bassist Alex Bass as well, Lush sounds cinematic, yet still perfectly homemade.
