News: Jackie Hayes announces her debut album Over & Over; shares new single ‘Wish It Was’

Chicago’s Jackie Hayes shares her new single ‘Wish It Was’, and announces her debut album Over & Over, out October 28 via Pack Records. Produced with longtime collaborator Billy Lemos (Omar Apollo, Binki, Dua Saleh, Lava La Rue) and mixed by Henry Stoehr of Slow Pulp, it’s the follow up to Hayes’ 2021 EP There’s Always Going To Be Something.

Hayes reflects that the new single captures the duality between introversion and the urge to create and be heard; “‘Wish It Was’ is by far the most thematically abstract song on the album. It’s the overall feeling of wanting to hide and not be perceived yet still wanting to create and show that to the world”. This penchant for insularity is part of what makes forthcoming album Over & Over such a rewarding listen. Many of the songs were made in a period of extreme isolation and heightened negativity, and read like a stream of consciousness journal entry charting Hayes’ self-discovery in real time. The album is “more about a feeling than a specific experience,” she explains, with themes ranging from the vulnerability that comes with perception, to struggles with body dysmorphia and the pressures of being a musician in an industry fixated with youth and hype.

After playing her first live shows in years in early 2022 (supporting Briston Maroney and Sunflower Bean), Hayes went back and re-recorded many of the songs on the project. The validation of performing live led her to admit dissatisfaction with her previous work, where a desire to achieve perfection led to her over-editing vocals; “I forgot that I can sing,” she confesses. However, while working on the batch of songs that make up the record, Hayes was dropped by her then-label, and lost her voice from the exhaustion of touring. At the same time, she had to get stitches from a wine glass exploding in her hand at her day job, which meant she couldn’t properly play guitar for a month. Over & Over reflects the frustrations of this stop and start pace, and many of the songs feel like collective manifestations of Hayes reasoning with herself to keep going. Retaining the rough around the edges, sparse production and guitar work of previous EPs, the debut is a razor-sharp portal into Hayes’ thought process, and establishes a newfound focus for her as she explores what it takes to make music that feels true to her entire being.

Over & Over: