After many successful years in the music industry, Jaël has just released her third solo album, Mildlife, with a tour starting in Spring 2023. The double album, produced by Cyril Camenzind, contains many new songs, exclusive photos, personal thoughts, and a B-side with live recordings from the last tour.
As you’ll discover, the Mildlife LP is a touching reflection of the singer-songwriter’s personal life journey. There are touching insights, like not always having to be perfect as a working mother of two in ‘Only human’ or the story of strong women in challenging situations in ‘Untouched by Grey and Rain’. Excitingly, the track ‘IiTii’ is Jaël‘s first in her native Swiss-German tongue, and it aptly describes the experience of being different and not quite fitting into a society as neuro-sensitive. Another highlight on the album is the psychedelic song ‘Paralyzed’, in which the artist takes all her courage to cover a topic that has been kept quiet until now: sexual assault and the associated fear rigidity that prevents one from saying “no” at the right moment, to defend oneself, or simply to run away. And finally, a note for pre-existing fans of Jaël is the bittersweet ‘To Miss You’ which reflects on the musician’s breakup from the band Lunik, written with former band co-founder and producer Luk Zimmermann.
Here, Jaël shares a little about what this album means to her: “Musically, after 25 years of career, I have finally managed to embed all my musical influences into my personal Jaël sound. There is sweetness, things that hurt, hope on that album. And over all hovers the melancholy that has always dominated my songs and my voice.”
While many different themes and emotions are explored throughout the record, Jaël‘s warm, melancholic voice wrapped in fragile piano ballads or driving guitar songs in a through-line to keep you grounded and captivated. Arguably, it’s her most comprehensive work to date, with analytical retrospection and emotive vulnerability.
We’ve hand selected ‘Only Human‘ for our Folk This Way playlist, so be sure to check it out!
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