Jess Cornelius sings about the events that shape womenâs lives â relationships, marriage, children and in song, a miscarriage â but also about the struggle not to let them define her. She easily shoulders the difficulties her characters face, whether they are walking out the door of an unsatisfactory relationship (âKitchen Floorâ) or conducting imaginary conversations with younger selves (âBorn Againâ), but also insists that sheâs more than that. âIt makes no difference/you might as well be happy about it,â she sings in âNo Differenceâ letting loose a tremendous belt that ripples with guts and feeling. You can almost hear the squaring of shoulders, the gathering of resources of a young woman determined to be more. Cornelius gives off the air of someone who is empowered but sad, totally in charge of her life but a little disappointed at what all that strength requires of her.
Cornelius was born in New Zealand but came of age, musically, after moving to Melbourne, Australia. She led a band called Teeth and Tongue in the aughts and teens, then moved to Los Angeles late in 2017 and has mostly focused on solo work since then. A few of these songs come from earlier recordings. âLove and Low Self-Esteem,â which closes, is a more blown out iteration of a song on her acoustic 2017 EP Nothing Is Lost. âNo Differenceâ was released as a single in 2019.
The most fun songs here are anchored by defiant rhythms. âKitchen Floor,â an early single, snakes its way along blues-ily but really catches fire in its punchy âwalk, walk, walk, walk,â while âNo Differenceâ shudders and booms with percussive life, the kick drum in contentious conversation with twitchy, guitar upbeats. âBanging My Headâ hisses and spits with suppressed aggression, Corneliusâ voice arcing out wide over palm-muted tensions, âWhat do I like like, stupid?â
And yet, fun is not everything. A pair of striking tunes simmer on low and make their impact more subtly. âBody Memoryâ sketches the aftermath of losing a pregnancy against a backdrop of cheesy casio rhythms. The words are plain (âWhen we met I used to make you laugh/Then we lost the baby and it broke my heart/And I find it hard to be that funny nowâ) and all the more affecting for it. But the song isnât really about the baby. Itâs about how Cornelius found herself adrift, not really sure who she was exactly anymore. Even women who havenât had miscarriages can identify with her observation, âAnd I was my own woman once/And I was sure I was enough.â The reproductive process has a way of reducing women to their biological functions. Â
The other stand-out is the spectral âBorn Again,â with Mary Lattimore tracing delicate lattices of harp sound while Cornelius communes with a younger self. The song is not exactly minimal; the layerings of voice and instrumental sound approach lushness in the chorus. And yet it feels spare and ghostly, Corneliusâ voice alternately tuneful and bluesily cracked and sometimes massed in harmonies. âIâm okay. Iâm not lost for the moment,â she confides, âbut one of these days Iâm gonna be born again.â Cornelius explores the ways that life impinges on autonomy and makes its changes, but remains vibrantly, defiantly who she is anyway. Bravo.  Â
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A pipeline was laid through Loantaka Brook Reservation in Morris County, NJ, in 1986. Andropogon was part of this effort to minimize the destruction in this sensitive area (see the vintage âHabitat Protection Measuresâ drawing above). Our integrative research team returned to the site 30 years later to see how the site has fared following the minimally invasive construction techniques and innovative ecological restoration strategies used there. See what they found in the latest Arnoldia publication online.
