It’s a great day to be a Julia Jacklin fan: The Australian singer/songwriter has announced her third album, PRE PLEASURE (Aug. 26, Polyvinyl Record Co.), shared the video for its lead single and opener, “Lydia Wears a Cross,” and announced a 2022 world tour.
“Lydia Wears a Cross” finds Jacklin examining religion through her childhood eyes over sparsely atmospheric drum machine and piano—at least at first. “I’d be a believer / If it was all just song and dance,” she insists over an indistinct guitar riff, unable to feel a connection to her spirituality except through the transportive power of performance. Live drums and synths kick in unexpectedly as the song builds, and Jacklin vocalizes wordlessly through its climax, as if finally finding the transcendence she was seeking.
“The song is about a lot of things but mainly being a 7-yr-old Jesus Christ Superstar fanatic attending Catholic school trying to figure out which way is up,” Jacklin explains in a statement. “The music video was filmed by my constant collaborator and friend Nick Mckk at Split Point Lighthouse. I played a show close by recently and asked onstage if anyone could let me film inside. Someone in the crowd knew a guy and that was it. The rest was filmed in the streets of Northcote, Melbourne.”
“A lot of the time I feel like I need to do all the work before I can enjoy my life,” Jacklin says of PRE PLEASURE. “Whether that’s work on songs or sex, friendships, or my relationship with my family—I think if I work on them long and hard enough, eventually I’ll get to sit around and really enjoy them. But that’s not how anything works is it. It’s all an ongoing process.”
PRE PLEASURE follows Jacklin’s 2016 debut Don’t Let the Kids Win and her 2018 follow-up Crushing. If the latter “drew in listeners uncomfortably close, PRE PLEASURE is the sound of Jacklin gently loosening her grip,” explains a press release. She recorded the album with co-producer Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National) over a few months in Montreal, after a tour supporting Crushing, recalling, “The songs on this record took either three years to write or three minutes.” The album features her touring band, bassist Ben Whiteley and guitarist Will Kidman, both of The Weather Station, and introduces drummer Laurie Torres, saxophonist Adam Kinner and string arrangements by Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire) recorded by a full orchestra in Prague.
Watch Jacklin’s self-directed “Lydia Wears a Cross” video and 2019 Paste Studio session below, and find her world tour dates and the details of PRE PLEASURE further down.
PRE PLEASURE Tracklist:
01. Lydia Wears A Cross
02. Love, Try Not To Let Go
03. Ignore Tenderness
04. I Was Neon
05. Too In Love To Die
06. Less Of A Stranger
07. Moviegoer
08. Magic
09. Be Careful With Yourself
10. End Of A Friendship
PRE PLEASURE Art:
Julia Jacklin Tour Dates:
August
26 – Stanford, CA @ Frost Amphitheater – Here and There Festival
027 – Pasadena, CA @ This Ain’t No Picnic Festival
September
09 – Austin, TX @ Mohawk #
10 – Dallas, TX @ The Studio at The Factory #
12 – Nashville, TN @ The Basement East #
13 – Atlanta, GA @ Terminal West #
15 – Washington, DC @ 9:30 Club #
16 – Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Steel #
17 – Philadelphia, PA @ Underground Arts #
18 – Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club #
20 – Montreal, QC @ Corona Theatre $
21 – Toronto, ON @ Phoenix Concert Theatre $
22 – Grand Rapids, MI @ Calvin University $
23 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall $
24 – Minneapolis, MN @ Fine Line $
26 – Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater $
27 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Urban Lounge $
29 – Vancouver, BC @ Commodore Ballroom $
30 – Seattle, WA @ The Crocodile $
October
02 – Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall $
04 – San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore $
05 – Solana Beach, CA @ Belly Up Tavern $
07 – Los Angeles, CA @ The Fonda Theatre $
08 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom $
November
03 – Dublin, Ireland @ Vicar Street &
05 – Glasgow, Scotland @ SWG3 TV Studio &
06 – Manchester, UK @ The Ritz &
07 – Birmingham, UK @ The Mill &
09 – Bristol, UK @ SWX &
10 – Brighton, UK @ Chalk &
11 – London, UK @ Roundhouse &
13 – Paris, France @ La Maroquinerie &
14 – Antwerp, Belgium @ Trix Club &
15 – Cologne, Germany @ Club Bahnhof Ehrenfeld &
17 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso &
18 – Hamburg, Germany @ Knust &
20 – Oslo, Norway @ Parkteatret &
21 – Stockholm, Sweden @ Slaktkyrkan &
22 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Dr Koncerthuset &
24 – Berlin, Germany @ Columbia Theatre &
25 – Munich, Germany @ Strom &
26 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Plaza &
27 – Milan, Italy @ Magnolia &
29 – Barcelona, Spain @ Apolo &
30 – Madrid, Spain @ SalaMon &
December
01 – Lisbon, Portugal @ Lav &
(# – w/ Kara Jackson)
($ – w/ Katy Kirby)
(& – w/ Erin Rae)
