Jess Locke - Real Life (2024) [Hi-Res]

Real Life’ is the result of Melbourne singer songwriter Jess Locke trying to make sense of a world that feels more and more unreal. Some parts of the album simply expressions of despair at a world that feels more and more dystopian. Writing this record, Locke found herself thinking a lot about what it means to live when you know that one day you will die, not just individually, but as a species, as a planet. But as much as our impermanence is very much a fact, it is also a fantasy, some theoretical, future event. So while it’s quite a heavy topic, a lot of the album is a process of returning to the present moment, realising that it’s the only thing that’s real and that the only purpose in a life that will one day end is to experience it, and that’s quite liberating on a personal level. Music is possibly one of the most effective tools for grounding yourself in the present and, in making this record, Locke found that, along with the darkness, she found moments of revelation - an escape from the fantasy of what life could be into the reality of what it is.