Jessica Boudreaux - The Faster I Run (2024)

When the beloved indie rock band Summer Cannibals disbanded in March 2023, frontwoman Jessica Boudreaux had no intentions of launching a solo career. After 10 years leading the Portland-based project, Boudreaux was eager to work on music beyond the band. The forced isolation of the pandemic meant more time in the studio, where she wrote songs for film and television including Oscar-nominated Nimona and Apple TV’s City on Fire. As conditions improved, Boudreaux built out her own studio, Pet Club, and a small house for bands to stay in while she produced their records.

But Boudreaux knows better than most that life is full of curveballs. In November 2020, Boudreaux was diagnosed with breast cancer and thrust into a maze of medical appointments and chemotherapy. Though Boudreaux was in remission by the summer of 2023, she was still dealing with the emotional fallout, leading her to embark on a transformative weeklong whitewater rafting excursion with fellow young adult cancer survivors. To her own surprise, Boudreaux returned from the trip with a “renewed excitement about life and expression,” she says. “There was a fire under my ass, and then I kind of accidentally wrote an album.”