Jenn Champion’s friend suggested her latest record—her sixth solo album, and most personal to date—come with an “existential dread” warning. You quickly understand why she obliged; her mortality, and everyone else’s, is top of mind.
On the hypnotic “Graves,” she sings about “walking that thin line between living and hoping we’re dying,” and questions whether she’s living each day to the fullest on the GAF dance anthem “Millionaires.” She delves into the self-destructive nature of addiction on pensive synth track “28” before grappling with survivor’s guilt on the achingly vulnerable ballad “Jessica.” For all the doom-and-gloom bops (“Good News, Bad News” is a feels-good-to-feel-so-bad standout), contemplative closer “Happy Birthday” offers a bit of unexpected hope amid never-ending chaos: “Hey, look at you, you didn’t die/Made it through another 365.” The Last Night of Sadness makes the act of surviving sound like something worth celebrating.
Image via Gay Forever