After scrolling through my Instagram stories and seeing one of my favorite artists, Phoebe Bridgers, praise jasmine.4.t for their debut album, I knew I had to listen to it. I was not disappointed. On Jan. 17, jasmine.4.t released their first album after releasing singles and EPs since 2019. The British indie band is based in Manchester, England, and are signed to Saddest Factory Records. I was curious how Phoebe Bridgers knew of jasmine.4.t, and after minimal research, I found that Saddest Factory Records is Phoebe Bridgers’s record company, which she founded on Oct. 5, 2020. jasmine.4.t is the first to sign with the company.
It’s no surprise why Bridgers signed on jasmine.4.t, as their music styles are eerily similar. The first song I listened to was “Highfield,” which follows Bridgers style in the quiet indie genre. The song starts with a calm guitar and slowly incorporates the lead singer, Jasmine. As the song progresses, a spooky violin ebbs and flows throughout the song. The violin is a feature that I wouldn’t typically like, but it suits the song’s theme. The tune fits the lyrics as she sings, “Makes the birds sing a little louder, makes my heart beat a little louder.” This song follows one of her first experiences getting harassed on the street as a trans woman. She sings about the trauma she has endured just by walking down the street. She sings, “I read my door, shaking screams from my head and rivers from my eyes. Take my makeup off for a work call and try to forget.” The vulnerable lyrics stood out as they captured the raw feelings she felt every day. This song is genuinely impactful, as I’ve never heard a song that entraps lyrics with instruments as powerful as “Highfields” has.
Not only was “Highfields” about her trans experience, but the entire album seems to be themed this way. The next standout song was “Best Friend’s House.” The second line of the lyrics is “I don’t wanna be in my parents’ house.” This song continues to highlight the daily struggles she has to go through being a trans woman. With a run time of one minute and 25 seconds, it makes every lyric count. There are minimal instruments that feel purposeful, as the point of “Best Friends House” is in the lyrics. She highlights how she doesn’t feel safe in her house with her family, and her only safe space is in her best friend’s house. This song furthers the theme of the battles she fights as a trans woman, but the lack of instrumentals threw me off. It felt very monotone, and, even with the spotlight on the lyrics, I think there could be some more background instrumentals similar to “Highfields.”
One aspect of the album that disappointed me was the balance between the vocals and instrumentals. In most songs, there are either evident vocals and minimal instrumentals, as in “Best Friend’s House,” or an overload of instrumentals, an overwhelming element in “New Shoes.” I was trying to listen to the lyrics but it was almost as if she was whispering. I understand that is a part of the quiet indie genre but it’s still important to hear her voice over the instrumentals. A song that really surprised me with its fantastic balance of instrumentals was “Elephant.” The band played around with both quiet and loud vocals and instrumentals, which created a perfect balance. “Elephant” is a song that I will be adding to my playlist as it had my head bopping and intrigued me throughout the duration of the song.
Overall, jasmine.4.t is not an artist you want to miss. Between the heartwrenching lyrics of Jasmine’s experience, the instrumentals getting tweaked to each song, adding their sense of personality and the production that Phoebe Bridgers has implemented throughout the album, I will be listening to many of these songs in the near future. Make sure to be on the lookout for jasmine.4.t as they are sure to make an impact on the future of the music industry.
“You Are The Morning:” ★★★★☆