Identity and Nostalgia: a listen to “This Might Be Healing”
It’s been a long time since I’ve written about music. The COVID-19 pandemic has proven to be incredibly stressful, which I’m sure is a statement that will resonate with pretty much everyone who will be reading this. Though I haven’t been writing about music much, that doesn’t mean that I haven’t been listening. On the contrary; so many of my friends and colleagues have put out amazing projects that have absolutely blown my mind, inspired me, and brought me comfort. For this review, I was granted the privilege of listening to my dear friend Jungheim’s new album, “This Might Be Healing” in advance of its December 18th release. I can’t wait to enthuse about how much I love the album and how many wonderful moments it has, but first allow me to gush about Jungheim.
Jungheim has been releasing incredible, honest, melancholy music for years now. Her most recent single, “Out?” offers the listener insight into the struggle of coming out and navigating the world as a transgender person. As a nonbinary, queer person, much of Jungheim’s music resonates with me deeply. In addition to being lyrically adept and an excellent storyteller, Jungheim is an expert musician, vocalist, producer, and engineer. Everything that she has put out has this wonderful autumnal crispness to it. The mixes are clear, confrontational, and just a touch crackly — a quality I love. She really lets her recordings breathe. You will never hear an over-compressed, lifeless mix from Jungheim and that’s so much a part of the brilliance of her music.
Okay, okay, I should actually get to talking about the album.
If you’re a big late 90s-early 00s indie music lover, “This Might Be Healing” scratches that itch while also being refreshingly modern. While I was listening, for the first few times alone, and then with my partner, we tossed around artists that we might attempt to compare the sound to. There are notes of Smashing Pumpkins, Beck, maybe a little early aughts Coldplay (okay, I know that some people will give me a glare upon reading that, and I concede that Coldplay is not that cool as a whole, but go listen to Violet Hill or Yellow and tell me that those songs aren’t beautiful…I’ll wait) but Jungheim exists in a world all her own, though the tones and arrangements she’s crafted brilliantly recall those nostalgic sounds. This album has some of the most crisp, warm acoustic guitar I have heard in my life, and that’s saying something as an audiophile that almost never stops listening to music.
One of my favorite tracks on the album is “How to Deal with Everything.” It’s uplifting and honest. Gently thumping percussion blends with lush layers of horns and pads over the aforementioned crisp guitar tracks. It swells seamlessly into the next track, “Square One,” which moves back into territory that’s a little more melancholy, a little more cynical, but still hopeful.
“This Might Be Healing” covers a lot of bases. The lyrics touch on difficult subjects — queerness, transness, nostalgia, addiction, relationships, mental health — in such a way that it feels like you’re having a deep discussion with a close friend over tea. Jungheim’s vocals are gentle with disarming moments of rawness, especially on the penultimate track, “Before I Rise” where a growl slowly creeps into her voice over the course of the song, or on “Square One” when the vocal tension conveys the deep frustration of the lyrics.
I’ll be listening to “This Might Be Healing” over and over again for a long time. About half of the time, I’m writing about albums that were written by dear friends, most of whom I’ve met through music. It’s so amazing and affirming to be connected to people that make some of the most incredible music I’ve heard in my life. I can’t count my lucky stars enough that I have the chance to write about people I love who deserve so much praise for the art they create. Thank you again to Jungheim for trusting me with your project. It’s beautiful and I’m excited for the world to hear it.
“This Might Be Healing” is out everywhere on December 18th, 2020
“Any Questions?” the first song on the album is out everywhere November 27th. 2020
If you’d like to pre-order a cassette, please do so at https://www.solidarityclubrecords.com/product/jungheim-thismightbehealing/
Please consider supporting Jungheim’s other work in the meantime by following these links: https://linktr.ee/jungheim
