breaking artists
In the moment: Sarah Jaffe's new sound and vision
Sarah JaffePhoto by Chris Phelps
Sarah JaffePhoto by Chris Phelps
Sarah JaffePhoto by Chris Phelps
This past spring, Sarah Jaffe took to Momo's stage for her SXSW showcase and looked a little shocked to see the West 6th club packed to the rafters, with many reverent eyes on her. Once she started singing, though, the light came through the curtains: She's got one of those voices that grabs your heart like a ripe blood orange and squeezes.
If the 25-year old Dallas-bred singer-songwriter seems poised on the edge of some big new stretch of road, then The Way Sounds Leaves A Room, her new CD/DVD combo released this week, serves as a rest stop between 2010's lauded debut LP, Suburban Nature, and its follow-up, due next year. The eight-song EP features new demos and covers, such as an inspired redo of Drake's “Shut It Down” (she's also been known to cover Robyn and Harry Nilsson) and reworked versions of Suburban songs.
I've never had a strategy. I think momentum and physical movement play a huge role in curing writer's block.
The growing pains that come with being young and talented and trying to find yourself after a well-received debut might naturally inform “A Sucker For Your Marketing,” which is just Jaffe's voice, a drum beat and a bassline, but it also signals a turn away from the spare folk reveries of her debut. The title track finds her opening up to more styles and textures, and letting her voice be its own magical instrument. Jaffe knows it's time to evolve: "Suburban was a great start, but some of those songs were three to seven years old."
The DVD's mini-documentary, directed by fellow North Texan Jon Todd Collins, follows Jaffe from the wood-paneled walls of her suburban Denton home to a February 2011 live performance at Dallas' elegant Wyly Theatre. In color and black-and-white, Collins captures Jaffe's stunning face and voice and, in the process, pinpoints exactly why she could be huge—especially at a time when Texans like Annie Clark and Sarah Jarosz are redefining pop music.
“It was the Wyly show that started it, and my manager thought it'd be a great idea to take advantage, and for Jon to film it,” Jaffe explains. “In the process, I said, 'Why don't we make it this conjoined thing where I take footage from the last year—tour, friends—and make this a collaborative piece?'”
Writer's block over the last year, much of which has been spent on the road, is something Jaffe's candid about, especially in the face of the sophomore album. It's the major chord of The Way Sound Leaves A Room, a collection of experience, failure and curiosity. It's hearing the artist in the moment.
“After touring with Midlake last summer, I was inspired but stuck, and I started to resent it," she explains. "But I've never had a strategy. I think momentum and physical movement play a huge role in curing writer's block. Being on tour definitely got the wheels turning, not being able to sit down and write on an instrument. Having to write in my head, and fidget with lyrics. Driving and movement. Hindsight and perspective.”
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Sarah Jaffe and Centro-matic's Will Johnson go solo acoustic at the Cactus Cafe, Friday, 8:30pm
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