Husband and wife duo Jane Leo, Jane Ellen Bryant and Daniel Leopold, have been making a name for themselves here in Austin and beyond. As of September 19, Jane Leo has released a second album, Creature of Destruction, and will follow it with a national tour with band New Constellations starting in October.
Jane Leo has been very busy over the past couple of years, with a residency at Hotel Vegas in 2023; shows at SXSW, ACL, F1, BottleRock Music Festival; a highly-acclaimed eponymous record; and a national tour opening for indie pop band Cannons.
Creature of Destruction, via Native Fiction records, is a departure from Jane Leo's more lo-fi sound of years past. Instead, the nine songs on this record — or 10, including the bonus track only available on vinyl — are playful, satirical at times, and highly danceable.
"Our first album is a split right between what I do naturally and what Jane does naturally," says Leopold, explaining that Bryant's sound is more folk Americana and Leo's is more rock and roll and brash.
On their tour with Cannons, they tried at first to play both types of music, but as the openers, they found the crowd really needed to move, dance, and wake up. So they leaned more heavily on their rock songs — and this led them to create a new album that was intentionally more upbeat, and essentially written for live shows.
"That tour fully inspired some of the songs that are on this record," says Leopold, adding "it's more Prince and even David Bowie-heavy" as well.
The songs on this album definitely sound like Prince and Bowie, and are otherwise 80s-inspired with lots of synth, keyboard, theatrically spoken vocals, and even some robotic sound effects. However, the 80s aren’t the only important years for this album, which demarcates a special time in the duo's lives. Not only were these songs written when they first toured together, but also when they first got engaged, moved into a new home, and were married.
"Each song represents these different stepping stones to where we are now," says Bryant.
Four tracks have been released previously as singles: "Vicious One," "Wow," "Diamond Hands," and "Strawman."
"‘Vicious One’ is one of my favorite songs I've ever written," says Leopold, telling the story of how long the opening track took to get right. "I tried to play it with my band and then tried to have Jane do it solo, and it just wasn't working. But then all of a sudden, one day, it just clicked." This song is a beautiful marriage of 80s rock, elegant vocal harmonies, and some brash, fun interruptions shouted by Bryant. (Whether the “Hey Mickey” vibes are coming from the vocals or the music video, the resemblance is there.)
Other songs on the record, including "Goldmine," "Intuition," "Nuclear Bomb," and the bonus "On My Way," are all new releases. With these, Leopold and Bryant leaned into experimental sounds ("On My Way" is inspired by old Spaghetti Western music, for example) and subversive lyrics. "Nuclear Bomb" includes a cool historical sound bite discussing nuclear warfare, and is largely about fear in today's world.
Some lyrics are clearly an homage to their love in a time that their lives together were truly beginning, like in "Goldmine," with the refrain, "You're so beautiful/with an open mind/it's so new, it's so true, a beautiful goldmine." Others, like the lyrics in "Nuclear Bomb" and "Wow," push the envelope from romantic to political. pparently, they pushed Jane Leo’s families as well.
"[Our families] were like 'No, you can't play music like this, you can't…You can't talk political,'" laughs Leopold. “In that moment it was like, yes, we are rock and roll... If your parents love what you're doing, you're not doing the right music, you know?"
Overall this album is playful, subversive, and though the lyrics aren't necessary to dance along to this highly kinetic album, they tell the story of love between two people in a complicated and highly volatile world. And that is very rock and roll.
Jane Leo will take Creature of Destruction on tour, along with band New Constellations, throughout the country starting in late October. Complete tour dates, including a November 6 show here in Austin, are below. The album is now available on major streaming platforms.
October 30: San Francisco, CA - Brick and Mortar*
November 1: San Diego, CA - Quartyard
November 2: Phoenix, AZ - Rebel Lounge
November 6: Austin, TX - Empire Control Room
November 7: Houston, TX - Continental Club
November 8: New Orleans, LA - Gasa Gasa
November 9: Tallahassee, FL - 926 Bar
November 11: Orlando, FL - The Abbey
November 12: Charleston, SC - Music Farm
November 14: Chapel Hill, NC - Local 506
November 15: Nashville, TN - Row One
November 16: Atlanta, GA - Aisle 5
November 18: Dallas, TX - Limbo Room at Ruins
November 20: Santa Fe, NM - Meow Wolf
November 21: Las Vegas, NV - Area 15 - The Wall
