Julia Jacklin delivers a poignant break-up album filled with hope: "It's quite personal," she explains

'Crushing' is a masterclass in storytelling.

Songs about heartbreak are not exactly thin on the ground. Let's face it, amongst all the bangers on your Spotify playlist, there are a few tucked away that always drag your thoughts back to someone in particular. But what if you're the one who walked away?

Julia Jacklin found herself struggling with that very human experience as she went through the relentless cycle of the two-year tour that followed the success of her debut ‘Don't Let The Kids Win'. Allied with a sense of claustrophobia and a very literal struggle for personal space while on the road, the daily entries into the journal that she had kept for nearly her entire life became full of thoughts and ideas that have led to a stunning follow-up.

Written largely on tour, 'Crushing' is a candid window into life on the road.

Such was the success of ‘Don't Let The Kids Win', Julia only had brief breaks for the entire time, something that undoubtedly affected her as time went on.

Written largely on tour, 'Crushing' is a candid window into life on the road.

Such was the success of ‘Don't Let The Kids Win', Julia only had brief breaks for the entire time, something that undoubtedly affected her as time went on.

Exacerbating the issues, as a woman performing largely alone throughout that time, she regularly faced a subtle form of sexism.

Finding herself often talked down to by people in venues, "People just kind of assume you don't have knowledge of sound for example. Not all of the time, but a lot of it. And if you don't have any other women around to reflect and talk about that experience with, you do feel like you're going a bit crazy."

For Julia, these feelings began to internalise and solidify into much of the material that ‘Crushing' is built on.

In a tactic familiar to women all around the world, Julia ended up "trying to be the funny girl, laughing it off." ‘Head Alone', with its lyrics of "I raised my body up to be mine" came from a combination of general music industry types wanting her to be a ‘personality' rather than giving her the space she needed, as well as relationship issues that she is understandably reluctant to discuss too much.

"It's quite hard to talk about it specifically, it's quite personal," she explains honestly, before describing songs like the jaw-dropping closing track ‘Comfort' as part of her mission in showing a different side to a familiar subject.

‘Comfort' and ‘I Don't Know How To Keep Loving You' tackle that aspect head-on, starkly honest depictions of someone struggling with the aftermath of their own decision.

That honesty runs through every second of ‘Crushing', where an unwillingness to use the kind of poetry or metaphor that made her debut stand out brings the listener closer to her world. Even more significantly, there is a literal attempt to get close - at points, such is the stark production that you can hear the click of a dry throat and every single noise from the studio.

The topics lend themselves to this musical honesty.

"I just really wanted you to hear everything and not hide behind anything," she explains, her choice of producer Burke Reid resonating with her admiration for his previous work with the likes of The Drones. The majority of the recording took place in the middle of the night, and you can tell.

It all adds to a sense of someone running on empty, an artist pouring her heart out in a series of brutally candid moments.

When she's asked how she feels about bringing these songs out into the open in front of a roomful of strangers every night, she pauses.

With most songs scaling untold emotional heights, there is a realisation that these shows are going to be powerful but tough on Julia.

Having overcome everything the world can throw at one person in the last couple of years, however, there is no doubt that she is more than up to this challenge.

As her UK tour draws near, it's time to steel our hearts before Julia Jacklin steals them away.

Taken from the March issue of Dork, out now. Julia Jacklin's album 'Crushing' is out 22nd February. She tours the UK from 26th March.

Words: Jamie MacMillan

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