Cassandra Jenkins - “Hailey”

SXSW 2022 - OEB Score: 9; Popularity Index: 6

Pairs Well With…The Weather Station, Fleet Foxes, Faye Webster

Cassandra Jenkins’ An Overview on Phenomenal Nature was one of the best releases of 2021, a highly detailed record taking indie-folk and alt-country tones and adding lush, cinematic orchestration and psychedelic rock riffs to a collection of songs overflowing with ambition. It’s a leap from her 2017 debut Play Till You Win, a stunning album in expressions both somber and grand. Tender moments are extra vulnerable, often building to full codas by song’s end. There’s constant movement in Jenkins’ orchestration and alt-country accompaniment, hints of jazz, ambience, R&B taking turns to inform the record’s far-reaching seven tracks. An Overview on Phenomenal Nature was so well received that it since has received the Expanded Edition treatment (the wonderfully titled (An Overview on) An Overview on Phenomenal Nature), giving glimpses into the record’s process and bolstered by a couple just-as-strong B-sides in “Ms. Cassandra” and “American Spirits”. (Kevin McStravick)