One of the striking aspects of the earliest Big Star tracks was their pairing of lush acoustic reveries with a most disarming frankness. The vulnerability of Chris Bell’s lyrics, mixed with the dry bluntness of Alex Chilton’s, all woven into gloriously rich acoustic and vocal harmonies, was a potent combination.
That combination doesn’t always survive the many bands who now recreate the sonic elements of the band. But with Jacob Church’s latest EP, Lines, dropping today on Bandcamp, it seems effortless.
Not that he was necessarily channeling Big Star or any other group. Rather, Church’s songwriting has a natural grace that belies years of internalizing and re-imagining pop harmonic shifts in a personal, organic way. And that only contributes to the sincerity of these tracks, which draw you into their raw, emotional narratives with simple, beautifully recorded acoustic guitar and piano settings.
Jacob Church
Church describes the making of the album as an exercise in restraint. As he writes, “I got my old cassette four-track from my parents’ house. I’d been writing songs during the pandemic, and I thought it would be an adventure to try to record a quick project on my old deck. It would be just like those late nights in high school. I’ve always loved recording with limitations. I think some of our best work comes out when we’re restricted in some way and limiting myself to just a few tracks would be a great way to do that. It was good enough for the Beatles!
“That lasted about a day, when I realized that what I wanted to do with these songs was a little bigger than four tracks. I still kept that mentality as I worked, though. I decided not to lean too heavily on the technology, recording as if I were cutting to tape. No autotune, no letting the computer play for me. If a part wasn’t right, I would just do it again until it was. Every part needed to add something to the track. It was all recorded at home, with help from some friends and family.”
That restraint, combined with instruments captured with cleaner fidelity than cassettes offer, has led to a startlingly intimate album, not unlike Julien Baker’s early work, albeit with more of the earthy pop chord changes one might hear in classic ’60s and ’70s albums.
The standout for this listener is “Nineteen,” which presents mental health struggles with an intimacy that’s all the more gripping for its plainspoken candor. “When I was nineteen/I lost my mind/I lost my mind/Knuckle white in dying light/I shattered like the cold ice into pieces.”
At times, Church adds flourishes to the sparse piano and acoustic guitar foundation, such as when Tammy Holt, Jana Misener, and Krista Wroten add strings to “Words and Music,” inspired by Church’s wife Sarah, who also co-wrote the title track. As Church comments, the track “is a song for Sarah, about how words are the hardest part for me, both in life and in songwriting. Hopefully my music can convey my love, since I don’t think my words do it justice.” He need not hope in vain: in musical settings this rich, every word packs a punch.
Jacob Church celebrates the release of Lines with a live-streamed show at B-Side tonight, Friday, March 12, at 8 p.m. YouTube Twitch TV