by Hannah Ryan
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Diminutive though Lindsey Jordan ÔÇô better known as Snail Mail ÔÇô may be, her stage presence at Thekla in Bristol this week was anything but. Bathed in a melancholy blue light, she appeared, alongside her band, with little fanfare and introduced herself in the briefest of terms before diving straight into the odd little guitar riff for which her ÔÇÿHeat Wave’ has garnered immense acclaim.
After the release of Lush ÔÇô her raw, teenaged debut ÔÇô in the throes of this year’s summer, Jordan has perhaps become best known for the emotional vulnerability of her lyricism and the curious blend of intimacy and tragedy that courses through her music. Such vulnerability, such open wounds, were clearly on display at Thekla as Jordan delivered almost every line of ÔÇÿHeat Wave’ with a mix of venom, passion, and sombreness. Both sincerity and bitterness came in waves on Wednesday evening, as Jordan exclaimed that she ÔÇÿhopes whoever it is holds their breath’ around a former lover, before lamenting that she knew she once did the same ÔÇô just as ÔÇÿHeat Wave’ reached the closest thing it has to a chorus.
Having begun the show with arguably her most popular ÔÇô and most accessible for those not of the gloomy indie rock persuasion ÔÇô Jordan then began to lead us further along in her journey through obsessive first love to the festering heartbreak left in the wake of its end. In between toying with the idea of finally abandoning an uncertain love ÔÇô ÔÇÿI’m sorry babe that’s not where I’m at/I shouldn’t be here when you get back’ ÔÇô and emptying her devastation out through her guttural vocal delivery, Jordan also toyed a little with her audience. After asking if any of us had seen A Star is Born, she launched into a rendition of ÔÇÿShallow’ so husky that even Bradley Cooper’s bedraggled Jackson Maine would struggle to hold his own against her. Jordan’s version, however, was all too short-lived and, while her wrestles with agony and desire on ÔÇÿGolden Dream’ and ÔÇÿSpeaking Terms’ resonated deeply, I occasionally found myself craving a studio recording of her ÔÇÿShallow’.
Snail Mail’s set ended with Jordan alone on stage, as she cast a rather lonely ÔÇô yet equally self-assured ÔÇô shadow in the dimming lights. Though the entirety of Lush may be described as an album made of heartache, it is on ÔÇÿAnytime’ that the extent of Jordan’s suffering is truly conveyed. With just a few solemn chords on a guitar to accompany her embittered cries, Jordan repeatedly wonders if the subject of ÔÇÿAnytime’ ever loved her before coming to the conclusion that still, she’ll be there ÔÇô anytime. This, ultimately, is the thesis of Snail Mail’s debut; when you fall in this kind of all-consuming, adolescent love, you’ll put yourself through hell for just a sliver of another person’s affections.
Jordan’s ability to create an atmosphere filled with despair, sensuality, and poignancy all at once is not to be underestimated ÔÇô at nineteen, as Snail Mail, she is capable of creating a show that evokes a range of emotions so broad that even her older contemporaries would struggle to compete. If this is only the beginning, then the upcoming era of Snail Mail is surely to be revered.
