Jess Cornelius - CARE/TAKING (2024)

Jess Cornelius writes arresting songs that capture the disorientation and endless possibilities of being in flux. On her sophomore album CARE/TAKING, the New Zealand-raised, Los Angeles-based artist sings of personal upheaval with striking lucidity and emotional nimbleness. Where Cornelius’ 2020 debut Distance found her untethered moving across continents and entering a solo career after a long stint fronting the Australian band Teeth & Tongue, this LP has the songwriter firmly established in her California home but no less at a crossroads. Over 10 intricate and immediate songs, she grapples with squaring global crises and insecurities with the transformations and responsibilities in her life. It’s searching indie rock that’s as biting as it is comforting.

Work on CARE/TAKING started patiently years ago with Cornelius sketching out ideas on her Yamaha Portasound keyboard. “There was a lot of change happening in my life,” she says. “I was coming out of a relationship with the father of my child. It was a turbulent time being from New Zealand, living in L.A., and realizing that this family unit wasn't sustainable.” While that dissolution was a heartbreaking shift in her life, she was grateful for the stability she had: her support system, the home she felt settled in, and her craft. It’s with this perspective that the songs on the album possess a tangible grace even when they’re about loss. Lead single “People Move On” is anchored by a steady jangle and a vigorous bass groove. It finds Cornelius singing, “He is a good man / I loved him all I can / But love is a strange thing.”