Album Review: Julia Jacklin, Don’t Let The Kids Win

You could be forgiven for thinking that Julia Jacklin hails from the highlands of South Carolina or the outer reaches of Tennessee, but you’d be mistaken. The 25-year-old comes from Australia’s Blue Mountains – but her songs burn with an alt. country intensity that has its roots south of the Mason-Dixon line.

Jacklin certainly has a way with words that belies her tender years. On memorable opener ‘Pool Party’, a heart-warming tale of alcohol and drug abuse by an outdoor pool, she sharpens her verbal sword: “I was shorter than my dad’s dining table/ You were taller than my bedroom door frame/ Hit me hard when I found height don’t make a man”. Other lyrical highlights include the Nashville noir of ‘Same Airport, Different Man’ (“At 16 lost my first love to a one way flight”), the country twang of ‘Leadlight’ (“I cost more than you earn”) and the title track, where Jacklin admits, “I’ve got a feeling that this won’t ever change/ We’re gonna keep on getting older/ It’s going to keep on feeling strange”.

The singer’s voice, while seeming fragile at times, is a powerful weapon, from the aching ‘Elizabeth’ to the melancholy of ‘Motherland’, the smoky, late night ‘Small Talk’ and the cinematic drama of ‘LA Dream’.

The waltz rhythm of ‘Hay Plain’ seems almost unconscious, but it gives the song an old time feel, until the bass kicks in with a rumble that catches you in the gut. Elsewhere, the upbeat ‘Coming of Age’ – wherein Jacklin laments turning the ripe old age of, eh, 24 – adds fuzzy guitars to the mix, resulting in a sound akin to Phil Spector producing The Jesus and Mary Chain.

Jacklin has spent the last few years in Glebe, a suburb of Sydney, working in a factory that makes essential oils, while honing her songwriting craft at night. She’s only recently said goodbye to the production line and it’s probably safe to say she won’t have to go back to the grind any time soon. 2016 could go down as the year of the sultry country chanteuse, from Lera Lynn to Michele Stodart, but it might just be an Aussie who trumps them all.