Fresh from supporting The Beths on tour in the US, alongside her solo work Jess is an in-demand guitarist, musician and producer in the LA indie rock scene, recently playing and touring with Alex Lahey, Rosie Tucker, amongst others.

Produced and recorded with Maryam Qudus (Toro y Moi, Tune-Yards, SASAMI) at famed analog studio Tiny Telephone in Oakland California, Jess Kallen’s newly announced album DON’T BLINK! heralds an artist on the precipice of greatness.

Feisty lead single ‘Persimmon Song’ bursts with aura of joviality. With big, barking, twisty guitar motifs, bustling drums and spacey synth sections (courtesy of Qudus), beneath its sweet exterior, Jess explores the complexities of family relationships and the importance of allowing time to heal.

Speaking more on the song’s inspiration, Jess said: “‘Persimmon Song’ tells the story of a bewildering verbal sparring match. I got into a gnarly fight with my dad in a family therapy session, and then immediately wrote this song. Not my finest moment but then again, I don’t really pick a fight about something unless I really care. And on the other side of it all, I think the sentiment of the song stands — boundaries rule, you can’t rush healing, and there’s nothing worse than biting into unripe fruit.”

DON’T BLINK!:

1. s t u c k
2. WTDTD
3. Persimmon Song
4. Ginkgo!
5. Buzzzcut
6. 2 Blades
7. Heidi&I
8. Jessy
9. Quarter Life Chrysalis
10. Love is a tunnel oblivion

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Kallen’s folk-rock debut grapples with grief, rage, rebirth and love with raucous urgency and whimsical charm. “I chronically ruminate. Most days my head is like a rock tumbler. Gets pretty noisy.” Exotherm was recorded live over 2 days, serving the songs written mid-pandemic lockdown with extra urgency. Embracing subversiveness in life and lyrics, the songs pave a path of nimble metaphors interlaced with charming aphorisms—and a healthy dose of existential dread.

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A dynamic collection of soothing strums, sparkling finger plucks and booming choruses, Kallen delivers a combination of anger and confusion, often walking the line between cynicism and hope, and yet still holding space for silliness and a soft spot for non-human critters. Bouncy lead single ‘Ink’ tells a relatable tale of how time flies by when you’re stuck in a rut. Opening with the line, “Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, the time flies when nothing changes,” the song builds to a suspenseful chorus like a wave crashing over the monotony.

Kallen’s folk-rock debut grapples with grief, rage, rebirth and love with raucous urgency and whimsical charm. “I chronically ruminate. Most days my head is like a rock tumbler. Gets pretty noisy.” Exotherm was recorded live over 2 days, serving the songs written mid-pandemic lockdown with extra urgency. Embracing subversiveness in life and lyrics, the songs pave a path of nimble metaphors interlaced with charming aphorisms—and a healthy dose of existential dread.

Exotherm:

1. A Garden Bed of Thistle Weeds
2. The Knife
3. Something Something
4. Exotherm
5. Ink
6. Cut the Line
7. Pig in a Poke
8. Mile Eleven
9. Running Shoes
10. Oolong

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Kallen offers up thoughtfully arranged folkish-rock that navigates grief, rage, and love with raucous urgency and whimsical charm, for fans of Phoebe Bridgers, Indigo De Souza and Haley Henderickx.

‘A Garden Bed of Thistle Weeds’ peers through the window of engrossed introspection. Hazy, ambient guitars set the scene, in what feels like an homage to Kallen’s foggy San Francisco roots. As Kallen (they/them) comes to “grip on the shovel” of their own fury, “Watch me dig, watch my cold blood boil while I figure it out,” they insist. The song squirms in the turmoil conflict brings: asserting power with clever defiance (“Some food for thought now, I should never be/ A reaper sowing your way to grief”), before returning to the aching confession, “I don’t want to leave”. The chorus rises in a slow and washy crescendo, as guitar and voice blend in unison.

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