New Zealand-born and raised Jess Cornelius spent her musically formative years in Melbourne, Australia, where she released four critically acclaimed albums under the moniker Teeth & Tongue.
In 2016 Cornelius began working under her own name, and moved to Los Angeles after releasing the ‘Nothing is Lost’ EP. Her follow-up album, “Distance” was released on Loantaka and Part Time Records in 2020, and her second full-length record CARE/TAKING is due for release June 14, 2024.
\Work on CARE/TAKING started patiently years ago with Cornelius sketching out ideas on her Yamaha Portasound keyboard. “There was a lot of change happening in my life,” she says. “I was coming out of a relationship with the father of my child. It was a turbulent time being from New Zealand, living in L.A., and realizing that this family unit wasn't sustainable.” While that dissolution was a heartbreaking shift in her life, she was grateful for the stability she had: her support system, the home she felt settled in, and her craft. It’s with this perspective that the songs on the album possess a tangible grace even when they’re about loss. Lead single “People Move On” is anchored by a steady jangle and a vigorous bass groove. It finds Cornelius singing, “He is a good man / I loved him all I can / But love is a strange thing.”
Throughout 2022, Cornelius and Cronin, along with drummer Steven Urgo, diligently recorded CARE/TAKING over sessions at Cronin’s home studio as well as Segall’s Harmonizer Studios. Some of Cornelius’ demos were kept mostly intact on the record like the gorgeous and yearning “Dying” while others, namely single “Laps in the Drugstore,” soar with rollicking, full-band energy. On the latter, stabbing piano keys underscore her falsetto as she sings, “Tell me everything will work out right / ‘Cause something comes behind / Every single time.” The lush arrangements throughout the LP, which feature glistening keys and saxophone, all thread the needle between being knotty and brooding to breezy and stunning. Her melodies careen into unexpected places but they’re all anchored with a keen sense of timelessness.
Where Cornelius’ 2020 debut Distance found her untethered moving across continents and entering a solo career after a long stint fronting the Australian band Teeth & Tongue, this LP has the songwriter firmly established in her California home but no less at a crossroads. Over 10 intricate and immediate songs, she grapples with squaring global crises and insecurities with the transformations and responsibilities in her life. It’s searching indie rock that’s as biting as it is comforting.
Praise for Distance:
"An incredible new record" - NPR Music, Robin Hilton
"This album opened up a whole new fandom for me" - NPR Music, Ann Powers
"Winning songs about finding delight in despair...Cornelius handles heaviness with an enviable lightness, finding new resiliency in every rebound." - Pitchfork
"A kind of 21st century amalgam of Karen Dalton's delicate folk and 70s jam band Americana" - Guardian