Review: Jill Andrews Looks Back at Her 'Thirties' With a Poet's Eye
There is a t-shirt for purchase on Jill Andrews' website that reads “Keep Jill Andrews Sad.” It's a winking nod to Andrews' reputation for writing and singing songs of depression, loss, and heartbreak. On her new album, Thirties, there are songs ready made to “keep Jill sad” but others that are hopeful, loving, and even cautiously optimistic.
A professional musician her entire adult life, Andrews saw older, more experienced friends and thought things would make more sense. “I always thought at this age, people had it together: a stable relationship, a steady day job and a real sense of who they are”, Andrews writes about the inspiration for the album. “My thirties have been spent single parenting, falling in and out of love, wrestling with voices from the past and struggling with the idea of the future. They have been full of change and growth, deep love and profound loss.”
Musically, Thirties is a definite growth for Andrews. Always comfortable with an acoustic ballad, Andrews mixes those with shimmering dream-pop flourishes, swelling synths, and vocal harmonies. But, as is always the case with any Jill Andrews album, the sell here is the lyrics. To be called one of the best at finding haunting little poetic moments in the most mundane of situations in a genre where the price of admission is talent for turning a phrase is a high compliment. But it's one that Jill Andrews has more than earned. Album closer “The Way to Go” is probably the best example of this. Over a simple piano and vocal harmony, Andrews muses “There's a garden ahead with brambles all around it. Shouldn't we go there, shouldn't we see? Isn't it worth the scrapes on our knees?” While acknowledging “the way to go is hard”, she ends the song with resolve, “do it over again, think of life as your friend. Do it over again.”
Another moment of simple reflection is “The Kids are Growing Up.” In a refrain familiar to any parent, Andrews watches her children grow with a mix of pride and alarm at losing those days of innocence. In lesser hands, a song about kids getting older could be saccharine, a crass grab at nostalgia. Here, it's a meditation on how we risk missing irreplaceable memories by surrendering to the hustle of life. After asking for help to slow down and be more present, she wonders “would it be so wrong baby, if we could just stop the time? I want to stay in this moment for more than a little while.”
The album's best song comes at its midpoint, with the mid-tempo number “Back Together.” Faced with an old lover trying to make amends, Andrews uses the experience of her years to her advantage, rebuffing all attempts to ingratiate himself with lines like “I got to know you a little too well. I tried to love you, but love is hell.” She closes by noting that “I've come this far, gonna stay this far forever.”
For those long-time fans who do want to “keep Jill Andrews sad”, there's plenty of choice. In “The Party”, a depressed wife muses on what would happen if she went on strike, “would the baby wake you with the morning sun? Would this whole house crumble, everything come undone?” It's the album's most aching nod to the mundane drudgery of suburbia. “Take me to the party. Feels like I'm missing out. I want to be happy. I want to get drunk and loud.” If The Rolling Stones' “Mothers Little Helper” were written by a woman, “The Party” could be the result, or at least the prequel.
As you can probably tell from this review, I've been a fan of Andrews' work for over a decade now, so when I say this is Jill Andrews' best work as a solo artist, and arguably one that approaches The Everybodyfields' near-perfect Nothing Is Okay, it's a statement. When you hear as many albums as I do, the majority spend just enough time on my Ipod to either get reviewed or weeded out. Thirties as already made the move to my regular playlist and I doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon.
After taking a forced road break due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Jill Andrews has a full slate of tour dates starting in June. Until then, you can pick up Thirties, and the companion book of the same name, at Andrews' website or through your local independent record store if they offer delivery options.