The Australian singer-songwriter was spellbinding on a jubilant night in Houston
Listening to Julia Jacklin and being at airports have become synonymous for me. Over the past six years, I have routinely downloaded her albums while waiting to board flights. It’s become such a habit for me that I sometimes can’t imagine flying without hearing “Don’t Know How to Keep Loving You.” I had first connected Julia Jacklin’s music to tarmacs while listening to “Body” off of her second album Crushing. Then came a pair of singles during the pandemic—“to Perth, before the border closes” had become a mantra for accepting change. Eventually, nearly a year later when getting on planes happened again, I started downloading her debut album Don’t Let the Kids Win right when my boarding group was being called—optimistic that the airport Wi-Fi would somehow be faster than boarding itself. However, her fourth album, The Gem, finds me rooted in Houston (and in cars, not planes).
I wrote this before reading her track-by-track of The Gem. On the song “If I Had the Hand of God,” she says: “I don’t like flying. But it means I have a lot of these odd, liminal-space periods where I’m somewhere strange, often by myself, waiting to start again. […] I was really questioning the cost of this job to my relationships, to being able to have roots.” Her description of those liminal spaces resonated with my own listening habits. I, however, do like flying. But I’m finding that being grounded has its upsides, too.
On November 4th, Julia Jacklin’s tour found her in Houston, the day after Texas turned blue. While I was already looking forward to seeing her perform, it was even more exciting to welcome the Australian singer-songwriter here. She said, “Congrats on yesterday,” and the crowd erupted into cheer. Once we all registered the shared joy, the clapping and screaming kept going. Jacklin also donated $1 from every ticket sale to The Montrose Center.
Jordan Patterson, a new signing at Secretly Canadian, opened the show solo with guitar. She released an EP earlier this summer called Songs From A Valley Girl. I found her breathy vocals especially striking as they swelled into a shout. In a nod to Houston, she said: “Beyoncé is avant garde.” It was a short dissertation on Beyoncé’s dance routines and visuals, and I think she may be on to something. Remember when Beyoncé dropped Lemonade? Patterson’s favorite album is 4.
Jacklin walked on stage a little after 9pm joined by a 4-piece band. If there were a mantra-esque song comparable to “Perth” on this album, it’s “Brand New.” That’s my favorite track off of The Gem. “Brand New” is the first song on the album, and the second one she played on Wednesday night. The album was recorded in a studio over a pub in Melbourne called The Gem, where Jacklin used to frequent when she first moved to the city in 2017. Thinking that she’d record her fourth album in just two weeks, The Gem ended up taking a year.
I was also excited to learn that Jacklin cares about rhythm just as much as I do when it comes to her music. Perhaps that’s why I keep coming back to her songs as much as I do. I’m a drums-first, lyrics-second kind of listener. The kick on the one and three and the snare on the two and four was more prominent in her live version of “Body.” She says of her new, electronic drum-heavy song “Real Life”: “I think people see me more as a lyricist, but I love rhythm, I’m very sensitive to it. Music is meant to make us feel stuff, including in our body.”
So much of her work is about embodiment; I hadn’t noticed until having this renewed sense of freedom with blue skies over Texas. All this time, I’ve been listening to her while sitting down—in planes and cars—but hadn’t realized how danceable her music actually is until her show. I found myself slow-dancing with a stranger to “Don’t Know How to Keep Loving You.” (I know, right, Julia Jacklin is for lovers.) It was perfectly timed, too, because her set doesn’t slow down much after that, moving into “I Was Neon,” “Pressure to Party,” and “Get Away From Me (I Think I’ll Love You Soon).” Perfect for dancing with someone you just met. Just maybe if you go to a Julia Jacklin show, you’ll be “meeting a stranger, touching his face.”
All photos by Alexandra Howard
