Raw and deliriously poignant, debut album Distance from Jess Cornelius finds comfort in the symmetry of painful ends and their new beginnings. Created after her move from Melbourne to Los Angeles, a time filled with the hope of starting fresh, the record digs less into the physical distances she has traversed and more into the liminal emotional spaces that exist between us.
Delivered via her smoky croon and the jittery crank of her moody acoustic ballads, the album opens with a sway and a shout on the foot-stomper “Kitchen Floor.” A self-eviscerating and yet wholly empowering ballad of command — one that soars wildly on the heels of her gutting wails. In a similar vein and bearing the kind of sharp emotionality and rock sensibilities as Sharon Van Etten, Cornelius exhales a powerful intimacy.
Songs like “Body Memory,” which details the aftermath of a miscarriage, and “Here Goes Nothing” illuminate the journey towards motherhood. Then there is “Banging My Head,” a song that offers in its raucousness a potent visualization of her frustration. That frustration is twofold on Distance, battering down the expectations others had for Cornelius as not only a singer/songwriter but as an individual and mother.
Distance is available now on all streaming platforms. Visit Jess Cornelius on her website and Instagram to stay updated on new releases and tour announcements.
Listen to Distance the new album from Jess Cornelius below!
