Jack River pours herself into debut album ‘Sugar Mountain’
Jack River released her first album Sugar Mountain on the 22nd of June 2018. On the surface Sugar Mountain is a glittery pop spectacle, however, underneath the catchy pop rhythms and guitar riffs, the lyrics recall bittersweet memories. Holly Rankin, A.K.A Jack River, wrote her first album as an ode to innocence lost after the most devastating freak accident, the death of her younger sister. Creating music became a means of survival for Holly and it helped her transition into the songstress: Jack River.
The album takes listeners to the dark place of her pain, each song is a "trick of the light" said River, "from one angle it’s luminous and lovely, from another it’s imbued with a terrible sorrow." River names her album after Neil Young's song Sugar Mountain, which is a bittersweet ode to youth and the loss of innocence. River says her album is "the souvenir of my youth, the wish of what it could have been."
The opening track Her Smile is her remembering her sister, yet also talking to her through song. She is allowing herself to let her sister go, through lyrics such as "you're going somewhere I don't know, somewhere closer, maybe I know." River spoke of her sister's passing saying "the energy of her feels so real, what if it’s a closer experience when someone passes away? What if they go to a closer place?"
Jack River Performing, photography by Desiree De Bruin
Ballroom is one of the most successful songs of the album, it comments on River's ability to perform on stage at times when she is feeling dark and overcoming that sense of helplessness, "I know some things were always going to burn and all our stars were born to die. But I’m not gonna die tonight.” Fault Line was the first single of the album, it deals with loving people while they are still with you before it is too late. Fool's Gold is without a doubt one of the most successful songs, it uplifts listeners with it's psych pop beats and glittering imagery "Fool's gold, shining in the night, so easy on the eyes."
The 13 song album takes listeners to a melancholy place whilst giving them the urge to go for a long drive with the windows down with Sugar Mountain playing loud. River lost a part of her youth at 14, but through dark pop mixed with stardust, Jack River seals herself in the Australian music industry as an artist destined for great things. The album has colourful and bright aspects, it is a reflection of youth and the happy memories she has with her sister.
River is incredibly productive, she created her company Hopeless Utopian due to the underrepresentation of women in the music industry. From this she started Electric Lady, a platform for women in the music industry to showcase their talent through it's all women festival held in Queensland.
Jack River is bringing her Sugar Mountain tour to Melbourne on the 12th and 14th September.
