Julia Jacklin

Crushing (2019)

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Australian singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin went through a bad break up. Really bad. So bad that it’s made for one of the most relatable, heartbreakingly specific albums of the year.

Crushing, Jacklin’s sophomore LP, takes the listener through every emotion related to a break up over the course of ten songs. Along the way, it hits all the feelings. No personal details are spared, especially on opener “Body,” a revealing recollection of the beginning of the end. “I’m not a good woman when I’m around you,” Jacklin declares until she repeats, “I guess it’s just my life, and it’s just my body.” A title like “When the Family Flies In” only gets more devastating from there. On “Don’t Know How to Keep Loving You” she sings, “I want your mother to stay friends with mine” on a list of idealistic desires that will never pan out. “Good Guy” delivers, “Tell me I’m the love of your life, just for a night, even if you don’t mean it” with too much impact. These are just a fraction of Jacklin’s songwriting chops on an album full of them.

Often the music is sparse, there to back Jacklin’s emotional pain. “Head Alone” would make Sharon van Etten proud while “Don’t Know How to Keep Loving You” is reminiscent of Jenny Lewis’s pseudo-twang. “Pressure to Party” sounds like a collaboration between the two. Every song is delivered with power and clear intention. “Comfort” ends the album on far and away the most positive note, seeing Jacklin wish the best for her ex and more importantly, herself.

Crushing is about healing after a breakup, expunging everything about the person she once shared a life with. Jacklin holds nothing back nor does she clean it up for the consumer. Every song here is so raw, it hurts to listen to.