"God Sometimes" - Julia Jacklin
I listen to a lot of music. Whatever the genre label, I try to listen to at least every new release on the Qobuz weekly New Releases listing. I have never come across Julia Jacklin before, even though this track is from her fourth solo album, Gem. Well, no one can listen to everything. There is simply too much music in the world for that.
I came across this album in my Audison Voce II/Forza/Prima subwoofer- equipped car, which I think sounds pretty damn good considering the relatively modest equipment. The first track set the scene with Julia's honest, almost plaintive folk-like vocals sitting on top of a full band.
"God Sometimes" is the second track on the album and blew me away from its dynamic drum intro until the very end, featuring a descending line played on a Fender Rhodes or similar. Although the track is very full of instruments, a good image is apparent and allows all instruments to be heard, including acoustic guitar, which you would imagine would be buried under the more forceful instruments. In fact, listening back on a pair of studio reference headphones, I was hearing less detail than on my Voce S II's. This is quite likely due to the extra space in the car, offering more air for sounds to properly develop.
Hypnotic drum and keyboard lines underpin the main melody and lyric, which in places carries a harmony line a fourth above the main vocal, offering an eerie spatial effect. At 1m46s a guitar and keyboard take over the top line, while Julia takes a swig of 4X (She is Australian, after all!). I liked the clever, possibly accidental interplay between keyboard and roaring guitar.
2m12s, the track takes a tiny break, and Julia is back. "Hold out for something greater" is the plea. 2m55s, the guitar returns with a theme mirrored or double-tracked with a distorted keyboard before the track ends with the aforementioned descending keyboard line.
As a special treat, which I like to think was left in just for me, is a burst of amplifier hum right at the end of the track! How did she know?
Have a listen in your car and see if you can hear what I could hear. You should get rowdy, high-energy excitement with plenty of detail, especially if you're listening on a Hi-res source.