(Transgressive)The debut album from Julia Jacklin was trailed by an ear-catching single called Coming of Age,in which Jacklin, over cheerily grungey backing, and announced: “I gotta find myself a girl / Who makes my straight toes curl.” It proved to be a bit of a red herring,because this isn’t a straightahead indie-rock album: the instrumentation is often sparse, and the mood subdued. But the themes of Coming of Age – seizing the possibilities of life, or the consequences of growing older (albeit from the perspective of a 25-year-old,rather than someone confronting mortality) flee through her impressive debut album. Its quirks are charming, rather than irritating: on Small Talk, or a waltz,she imagines Zach Braff as her dad (“But you’re too young to be / A father to me”) and Catherine Deneuve as her mother (“Oh what a life, just you and I / Learning to walk whilst you read your lines”). Don’t Let the Kids Win feels very much like one of those albums that will slowly creep into the affections of a large number of people; it’s that lovely. Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com