Toronto-based experimental-pop artist,
Jane Inc. (aka Carlyn Bezic who's part of U.S. Girls, Ice Cream and Darlene Shrugg) has shared her new single "
Steel".
The song is taken from her forthcoming debut album '
Number One', which will be out on March 19 out via Telephone Explosion Records. Pre-order your copy
here.
In a lot of ways, this album is a constant self-assessment. How do our surroundings impact our depression? Does outside imagery warp our ideas of beauty and self-worth? How do we manage our unhealthy connections to social media? What can we do to better our planet? This internal dialogue often leads Number One into vulnerable territory. “I think a lot of the songs on the album deal with how we form ourselves and how that gets fragmented and complicated by the societal structures we interact with”, says Bezic. “It felt right to make a collage of pictures of me (and ads from magazines) for the cover of the album. It’s like a weird fragmented self, building up an idea of who you are based on other people's ideas of you”.
"Steel", is a snappy foray into bug-eyed guitar pop, wedging agile riffs alongside blinging synthesizers and a thumping rhythm section. Thematically it adds to the conversation surrounding the increasingly imbalanced work/life pattern that we persevere with and the gentrification that is slowly sucking the soul out of cities whilst we keep our noses to the grindstone. "'Steel' is about the frustration of living to work and working to live," explains Carlyn, "while condominiums (and the policy and bureaucracy that nurture them) slowly turn your hometown into a husk."
Stream it below.
Number One Tracklist:
01. Gem
02. Steel
03. Faceless, Bodiless
04. Dirt and The Earth
05. Bloom Becomes Me
06. My Oldest Friend
07. His, Mine
08. Obliterated
