SNAIL MAIL
Ricochet (Matador)
Snail Mail’s 2018 full-length debut Lush marked Lindsey Jordan out as more than merely the precocious creator of the earlier Habit EP; it cemented her status as a torch bearer for that much maligned and deeply unfashionable genre, indie rock. While successor Valentine expanded her horizons, Ricochet truly delivers on its promise, largely leaving behind intimate melodramas and bittersweet heartache, stepping outside the bedroom and taking in the bigger picture.
Just as the sound is fuller and richer (Light On Our Feet perhaps the prime example), so too is there an unmistakeable boldness, openness and confidence to Jordan’s voice. Her lyrics are less intensely personal and private diary entries now, the record’s overriding theme being the inexorable and unforgiving passage of time. She’s always been a wise old soul, so finding her fretting about frittering her life away and musing on mortality (“Another year gone by / What if nothing matters? / Waiting around to die / See what happens after”) feels like an entirely natural progression. Ricochet isn’t glumly resigned or defeatist, though; on the contrary, it’s a triumph.
words BEN WOOLHEAD
