SPOTLIGHT 10/26/23 - JANE REMOVER, CENSUS DESIGNATED
this one's going to be a long one, buckle up!
Census Designated; A Love Drunk Letter To All of The Dirt Inside of Rural America.
Census Designated is an album that pummels you from start to finish, punching you in the stomach over and over and over until you're just about to vomit.
This album gives you no track to rest, not a single anchor. It WANTS you to feel what she feels. A constant stream of emotions and yearning escalating until it all comes to a head. This is the most rollercoaster of an album I’ve ever had the pleasure of hearing.
With this album, Jane asks the question of "Is it intimacy if only one person cares?" These lyrics exclaim a love drunk, feral crave for their partner.
A vapid toxicity that not many relationships can match. Sex is idealized to no bounds. But then it's tossed around like it's worthless, and even appalling to think about.
The lyrics and visuals thrust the aesthetic of rural America to the forefront of the album, alike to an Ethel Cain track. Although this project forces you to see the underside of that countryside you loved so much as a kid. covering it with bugs, cigarette smoke, and wood paneling-- this album's aesthetic throws the nostalgia filled crackles and pops of frailty out the window, leaving only specks of noise and tv static behind.
The instrumentals of this album are a far cry to what we saw in frailty, And i'm all here for it. She's evolved, and we're in a totally new world!
Artwork by @BITCHITWERK on twitter - https://twitter.com/BITCHITWERK/status/1717214531326259701
No longer do we have the noise drenched synths and early 2000's samples. They've all been replaced by the distorted moans and drones of guitars and hisses of old technology. The drums come straight into your face, punchy enough that they sound like they came straight out of an old song from the 90's.
These are the kind of drums that you can feel the decade old grime caked onto them. The same drums you would hear in your dad's collection. the same crunch coming out of his radio that's on its last leg. With him proudly exclaiming: "this is REAL music son."
With this album, Jane has not only shown how talented and dedicated she is to her craft, she has shown how she's a pioneer of genres. There is nothing she can't make. I am very happy to live in a world where this album exists. This album almost put me into tears.
As a massive Jane supporter, I was thrilled when this album released. And as biased as I am, I think you should take a listen.
Listen to "Census Designated" here: https://soundcloud.com/janeremover/sets/census-designated-1
