Jana Horn Sings for Slack Capital 2
Slack Capital 2 is a compilation of music by 27 of the greatest bands in Austin. All proceeds from the comp go to SafePlace, which provides support for victims of domestic and sexual violence. We’re unveiling one song per day until the the release party on April 14.
Song of the day: Jana Horn — “News”
Even in a city of immense musical riches, Jana Horn has the type of voice– inward, haunted, poignantly controlled– that will always stand out. That voice is on rich display in “News,” with no percussion and the sparest of arrangements– just a lightly strummed guitar, a few notes on a piano, and some delicately cooed background vocals (by Jana herself). A meditative examination of existing in a society and the choices we are forced to make within it, “News” is a deeply empathetic, almost alien-eyed view of humanity. “Two sides telling us/our lives are two-sided and we must/ decide which one we’re on,” Horn sings evenly, with little emotion but a kind of numb melancholy. Lyrics like “I’ve been inside the maker’s mouth/Do you want to know the things I found?” evoke the hard-bitten honesty of a person who has traveled the world and is writing back home with a bad story to tell. Like Elliott Smith, Horn’s allergy to over-emoting allows her to imbue each line with what feels like actual feeling. That is a rare gift. In a time of peak anxiety, “News” is a mournful salve. — Eric Braden
PreOrder Slack Capital 2 HERE.
Join us at Barracuda for the Slack Capital Release Party on April 14th.
