Jack River announces upcoming 'Stranger Heart' EP for Valentine's Day; 'Closer' music video review
Holly Isabella Rankin garbs an alter-ego stage name "Jack River"; the Australian singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and producer has already been hailed as a breakthrough artist. This multi-talented artist announced a new EP by the name 'Stranger Heart' on December 5, 2019, along with the release of her music video for the single 'Closer'.
The EP is set to release on Valentine's Day and with the well-produced albums we have heard before, we can hopefully expect greater things to come. The unique mix of musical devices River produces presents itself as catchy from the get-go, a sort of a blend of retro '80s electronic and '90s pop, reminiscent of Roxette vocalized with the audacious stylistics of Gwen Stefani.
Jack River carefully slides in acoustic instruments and an electric guitar into her electronic indie pop and the results consistently charm with each of her songs. River currently holds one studio album, 'Sugar Mountain', two EPs, 'On Nature Part One' and 'Highway Songs No. 2' and numerous singles each holding a substantial amount of views on YouTube.
Some of her biggest singles include 'Fool's Gold', 'Ballroom' and 'Fault Line'. Her music videos are often colorful, suitably partnered with her varied palette of lyrics, and the mix of the electronic, makes the listener crave a long road trip and holiday away from formalities.
Her debut album released on June 22, 2018, titled 'Sugar Mountain' and peaked at No. 11 on the ARIA Albums Chart, according to The Music. At the 2018 ARIA Music Awards, she also received three nominations, including Engineer Of The Year and Breakthrough Artist of the Year.
Jack River has also collaborated with the electro-house duo Peking Duck on the playfully romantic feel-good track 'Sugar'. The 'Closer' video features a melancholic theme with a confessional River between scenes at a fairground, a nearby beach, and her bedroom.
The video was shot in a single afternoon in Santa Monica with her friend Tatjana Hamilton. 'Closer' sells Jack River's romantic lyrics through a beautiful piano ballad and the digital tones set in with "Swimming in the dark, lazy. Car seat, dust, crazy. Infinity above me, taze me. With your deep-sea eyes, baby".
The song drifts from her usual upbeat music and holds us in her atmosphere, playing with soft synth strings and a slow, driving digital bass loop. The vocals traipse through with fading reverb effects and the sense of a fantasy seeping through long-forgotten pain, sensuality and emotional realness, confronts the listener.
River spoke to Billboard, describing the video as, "probably the most direct depiction of pure feeling that I’ve written in a really long time. It was pretty magical. We usually work on cool, big productions with my videos, but this suited the song.”
Every song promises easy listening consistently and with each future release from the artist, it is easy to recognize Jack River as a competitive and entertaining breakthrough artist in the years to come and we can't wait for 'Stranger Heart'.