Jana Pochop Powerlines
I used to think songwriting was as simple as, well, sitting down and writing a song. Turns out, of course, it’s not. Over nearly a decade of doing this, I’ve learned that the approach differs by artist – some write alone, others co-write; some sit down and write, others cobble together fragments jotted late-night in bedside notebooks. But nearly all write from some combination of experience and observation. In the case of New Mexico’s Jana Pochop, it was a pair of seminal experiences – uprooting her life to New York and visiting Georgia O’Keeffe’s Santa Fe studio – subsequently distilled through songwriting exercises at Berklee NYC and, eventually, leading to Pochop’s new album, Powerlines. A senior project of sorts – five of the seven songs were part of her coursework at Berklee – has become a full-fledged record, teeming with the unexpected realities that come with life’s upheavals.
Those big changes begin on the album’s first track, “I Miss Driving.” The excitement that Pochop feels after moving to Brooklyn is tempered by the fact that strictly regimented subway travel has replaced a huge part of her big-sky upbringing, where driving is not only a necessity, but an escape – “Follow the road straight to a lullaby/I am my own conductor.” That longing for home is punctuated by steely guitar (Pochop played all guitars on the record) as the singer struggles to find her footing in her new home – “I’m so over feeling underwater.” That second big influence – Pochop’s favorite Santa Fe-based painter – shows up on the next track, “Pretty Please.” The song starts in Pochop’s steamy, pre-NY apartment in Austin – “I don’t dare to crack a curtain/’Til half past nine” – but it’s her description of a love – “Pretty please, oh please you’re so pretty/You move in these O’Keeffian lines” – that allows the listener to create their own sultry, flowery mental image.
Part of the scholarly (and musical) accomplishment of Powerlines is the fact that Pochop produced the bulk of the album on her own, as well as playing the majority of the instruments. This approach achieves a kind of claustrophobic intimacy – the synths and multi-tracked vocals (all her own) on “Chasm” are particularly effective. On the other end of this constraint is the record’s last cut, the comparatively wide-open “Feeling Around in the Dark.” Despite its “fumbling towards ecstasy” subject matter – “Put your hands where I wish they’d been” – the song, with Pochop’s guitar licks and co-producer Alexander Daoust’s drum programming, fairly moves toward one of my favorite lines so far this year – “I learned the weight of the world gets lighter/When I made you smile on Friday night.” In our aggressively mean world, it’s those little moments of magic that resonate.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “I Miss Driving” – A roadless road song that climaxes in a chime-y guitar solo.
Powerlines was produced by Jana Pochop (co-producer Alex Daoust, vocal production and engineering by Noelle Hampton), mixed by Russell Tanner and mastered by Nick Landis. All songs written by Jana Pochop. Musicians on the album include Pochop (acoustic and electric guitars, bass guitar, synths, bass and drum programming), Don Dixon (bass), Sean Hutchinson (drums), Jake Bartlett (drums), Diana Burgess (cello), Alexander Daoust (synths, drum programing, piano, bass programming), Katie Lessley (background vocals), Shawnee Kilgore (background vocals) and BettySoo (background vocals).
Go here to order Powerlines (out March 25): https://jana-pochop-merch.myshopify.com/
Check out tour dates here: https://www.janapochop.com/shows
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: Interview: Jana Pochop on the Life of “The Astronaut”