Jessye DeSilva Glitter Up the Dark
It may sound trite, but listening to Jessye DeSilva’s latest album, Glitter Up the Dark, I realized that she and I aren’t that different. Many of the same growing-up pains that she sings about on the record – isolation, finding your place, getting comfortable in your own body – are things I went through (am still going through, on occasion). The difference is that I had it relatively easy – middle-aged straight white guy in a society that has pretty much catered to me and “my kind.” DeSilva, not so much. Her natural insecurities – the kind that we all face – are compounded by living in a world littered with dark places not yet ready to accept her. Yet, she sings. And, on Glitter Up the Dark, she does so beautifully as she tells her story, one that we all find a piece of ourselves in.
DeSilva is transgender, and Glitter Up the Dark is being released during the same week that anti-trans legislation is advancing through the Tennessee State Legislature in Nashville, a city that’s so important to DeSilva’s livelihood. Providing a pointed retort to that particular place of darkness is the album’s anthemic first track, “The Real.” The straightforward rocker, set up by a driving beat from drummer Matty Alger, presents DeSilva’s visions of working class heroes – “Real mother truckers, sweet sister lovers” – as the type of folks who make America go, with the additional task of “Voices of the people/Fighting to be equal” plunked onto their shoulders. “Fringe” is a slinky acoustic rocker (like “The Real,” featuring backing vocals from trans trailblazer Lafemmebear) that actively counters the instinct to stay hidden – “Ain‘t nothin’ fringe/In who we are/’Cuz baby in this moment you’re a goddamn superstar.” What starts as a quieter number cascades into a rawk-ish breakdown highlighted by a nasty guitar solo from producer Aaron Lee Tasjan.
Ultimately, though, those dark corners aren’t what drive DeSilva. Her album is also being released in the same week as Trans Day of Visibility (March 31), and the goal of Glitter Up the Dark is, well, just what the title tells you. The record’s first single, “Punk Rock Joy,” is a synthy celebration not just of resistance, but of simply being – “Take my rights, but you can’t destroy/All my love and my punk rock joy.” “Life on Earth” is cautionary, urging the listener not to forsake the moment at hand for a mythical future – “She’s forgotten herself, put her joy on the shelf/It’s the way she was raised in the Bible Belt.” And “Glitter Up the Dark” was penned by DeSilva about a friend who truly knew how to live, despite all the ugliness and obstacles – “A gritty saint, decked out in full beat, baby/Your sense of humor as your shield.” The song also serves as a blueprint for anyone – gay, straight, cis, trans, native born, immigrant – who’s simply exhausted by, well, everything: “You’d always take a little spark/Light it in the dark/You’d turn the ugly into pretty.” DeSilva’s doing that. We can, too.
Song I Can’t Wait to Hear Live: “Eldritch” – This dark rocker, featuring positively witchy background vocals from Adia Victoria, veers from Steveie Nicks tribute to absolute headbanger.
Glitter Up the Dark was produced by Aaron Lee Tasjan, co-produced and mixed by Matty Alger and mastered by Whynot Jansveld. Songs written by Jessye DeSilva, Aaron Lee Tasjan, Alex Calabrese and Jeffrey Trott. Musicians on the album include DeSilva (lead vocals, piano, Wurlitzer, Rhodes), Tasjan ((guitars, synths, Hammond organ, bass, backing vocals), Alger (synths, drums, percussion, backing vocals), Butch Walker (guitars, backing vocals), LaFemmeBear (backing vocals) and Adia Victoria (backing vocals).
Go here to order/stream Glitter Up the Dark (out April 3): https://jessyedmusic.bandcamp.com/merch and https://distrokid.com/hyperfollow/jessyedesilva/glitter-up-the-dark/
Check out tour dates here: https://www.jessyedmusic.com/tour
Enjoy some of our previous coverage here: REVIEW: Jessye DeSilva “Renovations”