🎶 Max's Music Mondays with Jia* and... Jia*???!!! What?!
Sometimes one song just isn't enough. Two gems off Jia*'s new record.
Welcome to Max’s Music Mondays. My ~music discovery newsletter~ where I get too excited about songs I love. I hope you love them too. Your subscriptions go such a long way. Free subscribers help these artists get the audience they deserve, paid subscriptions help keep this thing running and also PAY THE ARTISTS!!! 2/3 of every subscription goes right back to the artists I write about. Please consider supporting independent music and music journalism(?) here today <3
MENDEL NEWS: NYC READERS! I have some thrilling news :) I put together an insane show next month. August 20th, I can’t wait to see you there. Features three artists I’ve written about… a lot. I can’t believe how lucky I am to see them all live in one night.
Woah, kind of fun to have Mendel news to share, eh? I can answer that - it is for me. It’s been a long (like… loooong) time coming, and so much of this work happens in isolation. Just me sitting at this computer, thinking, writing, listening. It feels so good to be sharing with more people.
Especially a week like this. For whatever reason, my brain is really fighting against me this week, anxiety going wild!! But as my partner, Nat, is quick to remind me - this is something I do because I love doing it.
It’s hard to keep sight of that sometimes, it always feels like I’m not doing enough, that there’s more to be done. That’s probably on having a day job for eight years, but it’s nice to have a moment like this to breath and remember what the work is building towards. The show will really be a special celebration for me, and I hope you’ll be there.
But beyond that, it’s good to remind myself that the show wouldn’t happen without the newsletter. And even though it sometimes feels light and silly, as today’s does I promise… it’s the foundation for me, and such a meaningful chance to listen deeply, to share it with people who want to hear it, and to connect with the special artists making the records. Thank you, readers, for being a part of it all.
Listen, idk what’s in the air, I’m just feeling sentimental today. Like I want to raise a glass and toast or something… y’all let’s get to the music…
Every song added here!! Please like the playlist if you haven’t already! We’re steadily growing towards 1000 listeners, and I honestly cannot believe it <3
Jia* - Unlike You (and honestly, their whole album)
I’m feeling so incredibly lucky these days. My new favorite music just seems to drop out of thin air and land in my ears. It’s such a blessing. This new project from Jia*, a 10-track, 16-min affair is the latest perfect thing to appear (thanks to Hayden Everett for posting about it!!). I can’t recommend it enough, and for full effect give the whole thing a listen top to bottom. So so so much to love here.
Unlike You is the first song that really caught me, so I’ll start there. Jia* is made up of Jake and Fia, their voices sitting so perfectly with each other to open this song. Somehow it’s as if they’re both the lead vocal and also the background vocal to each other, I don’t know how they manage that but kudos it’s stunning.
You’re the kind of person / that won’t change at all
An honest lyric to get us going. So smooth over the subtlest guitar, the whole song at a whisper. The vocals open up, starting to reach for a really fun and shining melody - something we’ll hear through the whole record. There’s a sparkling synth growing in the background, a star shining over the moment, elevating it into something more. At 30 seconds, the bass kicks in, the vocals start to spread their wings, harmonies emerging so easily from the song’s simple foundation. We repeat this chorus (what a lyric!), vocals getting more and more adventurous while this crazy flute comes flying in. The mixing is crazy, but here especially, as the flute pops up on our left before leaning to the right and balancing back out. Really feels like the whole song is shape shifting in front of us. An impressive effect.
As the flute peaks with some ooo’s on top, we get our first taste of drums. One quick fill to keep the song grounded. The guitar pushes wider and wider with our singers in the middle. The whole moment is so lovely and these vocals are truly to die for. That With my parents in the room lyric is a perfect line with an insane arrangement, the melodies all coming together with so much life and emotion.
Things swell up, a gentle drum pattern joining to keep things moving as we hit the chorus again. While the vocals continue to shine and dominate the spotlight, there are so many little textures and instruments that really help the moment come to life, full of so much energy. I swear there’s a little trumpet in there somewhere, another instrument shooting one note out like a beacon of light. The song closes quickly, a little bit of guitar bringing it all together beautifully as it bends.
A few tracks later, we’ll savor this progression and this groove a little more. A voicemail laid over a masterful jam for its reprise. It’s really sweet, especially as it ends, but I’m just grateful for a little more time in such a sick song.
I could’ve written about any song on this project, I’ve been listening to Doesn’t Work a lot too. Two singer-songwriters blurring the lines between so many genres and sounds, their vocals deeply impressive throughout. Unique and stunning production, full of surprises and bold choices. I really love this one.
Follow Jia* on Instagram // on Spotify
Ok here’s the live look behind this week’s newsletter. I wrote this whole piece earlier, then after I finished, I spent over an hour trying to decide what the next song would be this week. And frankly, nothing felt quite right. It’s weird, I feel a pressure to pick two artists, stay true to my format, but… the honest truth is, today I couldn’t help but keep coming back to the Jia* record. So here we are, going back to the Jia* record. I hope you don’t mind, I think you’ll really love this song too.
Jia* - Doesn’t Work
As previously mentioned, I’ve been listening to this one… a lot. A song that manages to meld so many of my favorite sounds and genres together into something that feels entirely new and fresh.
A solo vocal moment to begin, That doesn’t work on me / anyway / not like it used to. The statement of assurance and growth delivered with such sick tone. The vocals pushed to the edges while an acoustic guitar plucks at some loose chords, adding a friend in the bass there too. The scene is intimate and almost haunting, the colors of the album art feeling really present - oranges, yellows, blacks, and browns.
The next lyric takes the melody for a spin - riding this wild bass line with a natural ease. Exciting as he goes off, seemingly out of nowhere. It has this real Dora Jar-ness to it, a playful almost mystical melody, before settling back over the repeating the lyric again, a bit more grounded this time. There are a few spots like this across the record I don’t think it did then repeated in a way that’s part meditation, part fake-it-till-you-make-it affirmation. Charming and heartening.
Our second vocalist, Fia, joins here, the pair running the whole moment back with some really thick drums. Drums that really let the whole think sink into a slow and swaying groove. The song picking up some swagger. A pair of sliding guitars join next, transforming the vibe entirely.
As Jia* does their thing (singing together and sounding good as hell) the song transforms into a future-country song, the guitars changing everything but it still feels so natural. The drums peel away, and we hear that but I know / I can’t heal, that way. So much emotion and pain to reach knowledge like that, it’s beautiful to hear.
With the sliding guitars gone for the moment, the band slips back into that indie R&B groove. Especially with this breathtaking moment at the 1:00 mark - you could try something else delivered stunningly(?), the harmonies are soooo nuts there, before the bass steals the spotlight to make a really cool noise (sorry, I know this is like… my job? and I am a “professional writer” but sometimes there’s nothing better to say than ‘make a really cool noise’. What can I say, it’s true!). 1:15 comes and shifts things again, moving into this breezy, dreamy section, guitars picking through bright riffs as Jia* seems to really come to peace with this relationship (or lack thereof).
At just 1:40 it’s much too short for my taste, but I’ve loved leaning into the rapid fire nature of this album. Something new to discover, to sink your teeth into, to really enjoy. Each song so well crafted. A joy to listen to, really.
Last Week on All The Other Days:
It’s still Remi and Clairo all day, every day, but also some great new additions this week:
Mal Not Bad - Life: Every song Mal puts out is insane and this one has really caught my ear and heart. A one of one voice, with suuuch taste in sounds. Every instrument on this one has the perfect tone.
Still Woozy - Big Fish: Shout out °1824 who invited me to join a press conference with Sven, aka Still Woozy, last week. I loved getting to know him a little bit better, and really made me fall for this one off the new record - an ode to his dad, his dad’s favorite movie ‘Big Fish’, and also really hearing a Beatles influence he talked about during this Q&A.
Sampha & Little Simz - Satellite Business 2.0: GOODNESS GRACIOUS YOU WON’T BE ABLE TO TURN THIS UP LOUD ENOUGH. I love Sampha so much and when Little Simz joins it really goes wild.
Maddee Ritter - Can You Feel It: Insanely breezy, a summer evening song, Maddee is so smooth as they sing about this tender love.
All that and more on the ATOD playlist above, hope you find something new there.
Have a great week, back for our July recap next week <3
Max