Today's Song of the Day, as chosen by Cheryl Waters, host of The Midday Show on KEXP, is "Lydia Wears a Cross" by Julia Jacklin, from the 2022 album Pre Pleasure on Polyvinyl.
Four years after charming the socks off of us with her 2018 record Crushing, Julia Jacklin is finally releasing its anticipated follow-up. Titled Pre Pleasure, the record was conceived upon returning home at the end of a mammoth Crushing world tour and finished in a frantic few months of recording in Montreal.
Our Song of the Day is the lead single and opening track off the record, “Lydia Wears a Cross.” Harkening back to her Catholic upbringing, a young Jacklin struggles with an understanding of what she’s being fed while deeply enjoying the pageantry of the church. “I'd be a believer /If it was all just song and dance,” she sings on the chorus. In a statement, Jacklin describes the song like this:
“The song is about a lot of things but mainly being a 7yr old Jesus Christ superstar fanatic attending catholic school trying to figure out which way is up. The music video was filmed by my constant collaborator and friend Nick Mckk at Splitpoint lighthouse. I played a show close by recently and asked on stage if anyone could let me film inside. Someone in the crowd knew a guy and that was it. The rest was filmed in the streets of Northcote, Melbourne.”
Pre Pleasure was recorded in Montreal with co-producer Marcus Paquin (The Weather Station, The National) and finds Jacklin teamed with her Canada-based touring band, bassist Ben Whiteley and guitarist Will Kidman, both of Canadian folk outfit The Weather Station. It also introduces drummer Laurie Torres, saxophonist Adam Kinner and string arrangements by Owen Pallett (Arcade Fire) recorded by a full orchestra in Prague.
Jacklin will be embarking on a US tour this August, with a date in Seattle on Friday, September 30th at the Crocodile. Watch her incredible KEXP in-studio performance from 2019 below.
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