Americana Highways is hosting this video premiere of Jessye DeSilva’s song “Glitter Up the Dark,” from her upcoming album Glitter Up the Dark, out April 3. The album was produced by Aaron Lee Tasjan, co-produced and engineered by Matty Alger, recorded at The Cabin Studio in East Nashville, Tennessee, and mastered by Whynot Jansveld.
“Glitter Up the Dark” was written by Jessye DeSilva, with DeSilva on lead vocals and piano, Aaron Lee Tasjan on guitar, bass, synths and backing vocals, Matty Alger on drums, drum machine and backing vocals, and Waylon Alger on backing vocals. The video was directed by Adam Gurczak of Almanak Creative, based in Boston.
DeSilva commented on the inspirations for the album: “I began to conceive and write the album with Aaron Lee Tasjan in late 2023, with the backdrop of the Tennessee drag ban and multiple anti-Trans laws being introduced around the country. I knew I wanted to foreground the idea of Queer and Trans joy, at a time when it seemed the LGBTQ+ community was being pummeled with efforts to make us invisible, but as soon as we began writing, it was clear that this wasn’t going to be an escapist, party album.
“In between trips to Nashville to co-write with Aaron, I found myself at home in Boston, having recently read Sasha Geffen’s book Glitter Up the Dark: How Pop Music Broke the Binary. I was so moved by the title itself, and the vivid image it evoked, and I couldn’t help but think about my longtime friend, Mark, who had passed away in 2016. Mark had been one of the first openly Queer people I’d met as a teenager in suburban New Jersey, and was subsequently my first high school boyfriend.
“Mark was a person who created an instant spark of electricity in every space he entered. His cutting wit, bold “mall goth” fashion aesthetic, and roaring laughter all demanded attention. As a closeted preacher’s kid in the late 90s, I’d learned to make myself small, polite, and agreeable, and Mark was everything I longed to be. He had a really difficult life, not only due to the marginalization of being an out, gay teenager, but also due to other traumas, and yet his sparkle was both a shield AND a means of survival. He held his joy, his laughter, his sorrow, and his rage all at the same time, and I still find myself wanting to be more like him all these years later.”
DeSilva on the making of the video: “For the production and arrangement of the song, I was really thinking about nostalgia and how that might show up musically. I suppose in a way, I had “The Boys of Summer” in my head, and I think Aaron and Matty sort of ended up finding some of those sounds in the drum machine, and the electric guitar licks, even though I’m not sure if I brought the Henley song up specifically. I also was really inspired through the whole record to dig into some of the Lilith Fair era artists who inspired me as a kid – I think Aaron and I both had Sheryl Crow’s first two albums in mind as a sound reference.
“This was my first time working with Adam Gurczak and Alamanak creative, who not only shot the video, but also did the photos and album art for the record. I’m an ethereal girlie at heart, and always have been. I’ve been really into the revival of a sort of 90s whimsigoth aesthetic, and Stevie Nicks and Florence Welch are constant inspirations, and I think Adam nailed all of these things with the visuals of the album and the video itself. I’m not the most confident with my body and this was my first time doing a creative music video—also my first album release since my transition—and I’ve never felt more comfortable, beautiful, and powerful as I did in front of Adam’s lens.”
A little bit haunting and a lot beautiful, this song is a moving tribute.
To pre-save or preorder the album, go here: https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/jessyedesilva/glitter-up-the-dark?ref=release
https://jessyedmusic.bandcamp.com/album/glitter-up-the-dark
Check out some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Jessye DeSilva “Renovations”