Jenn Champion, a founding member of the renowned slowcore group Carissa’s Wierd, has honed her skill in crafting emotive musical melancholy. Jenn etched her presence onto writable CDs in her role as a founding member of Carissa’s Weird and later, adopting the alias “S,” she employed juxtaposing guitars and multi-layered four-track vocals to gift us a melodic backdrop to our adolescent melancholy. Her 2014 album “Cool Choices” offered solace to the lovelorn, while its 2018 successor, “Single Rider“, presented queer-pop tunes that blended danceable beats with heartfelt tears for those in need. Presently, she unveils her latest album, “The Last Night of Sadness“, which exudes a blend of self-assuredness and raw emotion. The album is set to release on October 13 via Gay Forever.
The announcement comes hand in hand with the release of the track “Famous“, propelled by synth arpeggios infused with an ’80s flair and a catchy drum machine rhythm. Its lyrics ponder the defiance of youth and the parallel adaptation of grown-up life, simultaneously honouring achievement while rejecting the allure of celebrity. The song provides a glimpse into the sincere confrontation of existential unease that weaves throughout the entirety of the album.
On “Famous“, Champion told us: “As an artist sometimes it feels like fame and success are used interchangeably and over the course of my career in music I’ve seen how fame can bring with it all this money and opportunity but is also a gilded cage. This song is one that just came to me on a run one morning as I looked out over the city and I had to pull out my phone and start writing. I’ve gone through a reset of my priorities in the last few years and this song and this album are about the journey through existential dread that has me where I am now.”
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