Dora Jar: "I just leaned into the nonsense of it all"

From Alaska to the big stage, Dora Jar’s debut album channels grief, joy, and wild imagination. Check out the latest cover story for our New Music Friday playlist edit, PLAY.

Words: Alex Cabré.

Not many emerging artists find themselves opening arena tours for A-list pop stars and rock bands before their debut album even has a title, but Dora Jar isn't your average one to watch. In the spirit of other single-minded kooks of the moment - Chappell Roan, Magdalena Bay, and Remi Wolf - 27-year-old Dora is blazing a trail from the forest to the stage with an artistic vision that's hers alone. Far from the bowls and amphitheatres where she performed with the likes of Billie Eilish and The 1975 in recent years, the New York-born, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter is peering out beneath the hood of a yellow anorak. With an overcast Zoom backdrop brimming with trees, Dora couldn't look more elf-like if she tried.

"I'm at this guy's place in Alaska," she tells Dork, gesturing to a bearded figure who gives a polite wave. "This guy" is songwriter/producer Ralph Castelli, one of Dora's closest collaborators on 'No Way To Relax When You Are On Fire', her eclectic head rush of a debut album that owes as much to losing yourself in the big city as it does to finding clarity in the wilderness. Driven by her innate imagination and playfulness, on it, Dora explores pain and grief as much as the ecstasy of coming of age. It asks, in no uncertain terms, "Who am I?" and in lieu of solid conclusions, rejoices at being a human being in flux. Working with trusted co-conspirators allowed Dora to channel her deepest emotions into a sonic wonderland.

"The first person I show [my music] to is Ralph," she says. "We feel super curious and explorative together, and I feel totally free to be a freak in front of him. I think that is absolutely necessary in the creation process; you can be really close friends with somebody, but until you're freestyling off the dome about smelly toes in front of someone… You have to be on that level of [knowing] you can say anything, and we're going to die laughing. I trust myself to lead the music where it needs to go," she surmises. "I also trust myself to choose the right people to foster that growth and evolution."

'No Way To Relax…' gives the impression of an artist in metamorphosis. After first taking shape on a visit to Poland in 2023, where Dora has family on her dad's side, sessions in the likes of London, Los Angeles, and Ralph's studio in Alaska followed. New York birthed 'Timelapse', a tumbling reflection of being a 20-something seeking identity in the big city. There she was, "biking on the bridge when I'm buzzed off one joint". In Poland, she found solace in long walks, reflecting on "the craziness of the past few years" and feeling "like an outsider", curious about her heritage and h