(2022) Jura - Formality Jerne-Site              


Review:
Danish pop music has been on the rise for a few years now. On Land, MØ, Aura and Medina have all released devilishly catchy songs that tries to say something more than generic pop music. A new name to add to that list is Jura. Her debut album Formality Jerne-Site is totally captivating with its ’80s sounding synths, basslines, and pastel drums. However, there are some trans character driven stories, some cautionary some not, that take the music in directions that her previous singles didn’t quite have the gusto to do. ‘Someone’s Lifework’ kicks things off intricate guitar work that brings to mind The Death of Pop’s recent offerings. There are tinges of vaporwave, indie-pop, ’80s film scores and avant-garde motifs throughout. Then Jura’s vocals kick in. Slightly falsetto in places, others Jura is just talk singing. The lyrics are as intricate as the music. Dense stories about identity, self-worth, love, loss, and redemption are being told with ease over pastel synths. It tells us everything we need to know about the album and what to expect. ‘Same Late Age (dIcK bIfFeReNcE)’ follows the same lyrical themes.The music is more stop-start than the opener but constantly flowing like a babbling brook. By ‘Ensemble Fever’ the album is in full swing. Here the music is slightly darker, more menacing, but not threatening. The synths are constantly moving in the background creating a disorienting atmosphere. You can’t really focus on one thing or another. Big bass stabs with wordy vocal delivery are reminiscent of Yello at their best. ‘Measure of its Own’ closes the album. As with the previous tracks it gracefully builds toward a peak soaring vocals and vaporwave basslines. That is until the final third. Here Jura unleashes a barrage of wonky basslines, broken beats, and lopsided guitars. Its remarkable and ends the album on a note of abrasive distraction. It’s a shame that these kinds of breakdowns didn’t happen more often as it really makes the smooth outro so much more powerful in its tranquillity.





Track List:
1.Someone's Lifework 04:56
2.Same Late Age (dIcK bIfFeReNcE) 02:52
3.Grand Jury Staller 05:39
4.Pinot-Botticelli Toast to European Users 05:48
5.Amephrey and Ontario 05:31
6.Ensemble Fever 05:21
7.Formality Jerne-Site 04:20
8.The Lascaux Associate 04:41
9.How Intimate It Gets 04:30
10.Measures Of Its Own 07:09


Media Report:
Genre: art pop, indie-pop
Country: Denmark
Format: FLAC
Format/Info: Free Lossless Audio Codec, 16-bit PCM
Bit rate mode: Variable
Channel(s): 2 channels
Sampling rate: 44.1 KHz
Bit depth: 16 bits


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