Words by Art Jefferson
Photography by Nick Mckk, Ian Laidlaw

Australian artist is Jess Ribeiro is a beautiful reflection of multiculturalism, creative merit, and ultimately freedom. It’s highly unfair to subjugate her to one specific type of musical genre or title, as that previously mentioned flexibility has allowed her to travel in many sonic directions over the course of her career. There is also something to mention – she has done all of them flawlessly. Whether country, folk, varied strands of rock, or indie pop, the results have been nothing short of graceful. The massive amounts of critical acclaim that she has garnished from her past three albums (2012’s My Little River with The Bone Collectors, 2015’s Kill Yourself, and 2019’s LOVE HATE) weren’t like getting lucky and capturing lightning in a bottle multiple times, this was craftsmanship, care, and talent, rolled in one. And while Ribeiro may go with a feeling, the execution is immaculate, which is why it is no surprise that she has racked up multiple awards and nominations over the years. Whenever there is an announcement that she is going to release a new LP, the biggest wonder is what will she do next?

Jess Ribeiro is set to release her fourth album Summer Of Love on April 12th, 2024. Sharing the title track at the tail end of 2023, she followed up with two more singles, ‘Everything Is Now’, and the recent ‘Jump The Gun’. All three recordings reflected something serene, moody, and a little more reserved. Perhaps this is due to the time period in which Ribeiro began working on the LP, which was during the pandemic. With the world having to somewhat come to a stand still and many people isolated, Summer Of Love represents that uncertainty, as well as change. Even the methods of recording the demo tracks had shifted, with Jess Ribeiro using solar power to do so, creating time restraints. Despite the challenges, the final culmination resulted in a beautiful, thoughtful, and once again very crafty record that will more than likely get shortlisted as one of the best albums of 2024. Although written from her personal journey, this work is something that everyone will find therapeutic.

The first song on the album is ‘Maybe if I wore Sunglasses Inside’. It feels like it’s written from the perspective of someone who is trapped in an endless mental rut. On one hand it could be interpreted as almost a mental depression but it could also be looked at as the hurt from a now gone lover. There are lines like “writing letters that I’ll never send when I think of you”. What was the inspiration behind the song, and what made you decide to use it as the album opener.

Jess Ribeiro – Melbourne lockdown was strict. You were allowed to exercise outside for 1 hour per day and were only allowed to travel within a 5 km radius of your house. There were helicopters patrolling the city night and day to make sure people weren’t socialising. I lived alone in a small inner city flat. It got tiring. The lyrics are inspired by this time with a twist of deadpan humour. Sometimes you have to find the comedy in melancholy. Imagine a sad clown or the Dude from the film, The Big Labowski.

Musically there is an overall shift since the release of your LP ‘LOVE HATE’. It’s moodier and has more of melancholic sonics. What made you want to lean more consistently in that direction on this new record?

Jess Ribeiro – I couldn’t record with my band in the studio in the usual way because of the pandemic regime so I had to find a new way to work. I did some production demos with a few producers and even tried recording again with Mick Harvey (PJ Harvey/ Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds) but I was tired and wanted to make something more authentic to the actual experience I was personally having. I wanted something quieter, less high production, and less rock/pop than my previous two releases. I wanted my vocals to be dry and close up rather than drenched in reverb.

I know that some of the album was written during the time of the pandemic. Can you talk about how that period of the world shutting down, as well as isolation affected you personally and creatively?

Jess Ribeiro – Personally my housing circumstances changed. I went from living in the house I had rented for many years to staying with friends then finding a small flat to live in. I longed for nature so left for the country when the state temporarily opened up and rented a church to live in. I walked through the bush everyday and went cold swimming. Creatively I was more introverted than I’ve ever been because there was no friends to bounce ideas with and create energy with.

I also read that during the initial demo periods of the album, you were using solar power to record. Considering that those circumstances create limited window times, did it make you quite proficient with the overall recording process?

Jess Ribeiro – Yes. I gave myself one night to write an album and decided to use Bruce Springsteen’s record Nebraska as the structural inspiration behind the exercise. I did this just before lockdown begun. It was a really fun way to work as it was an experiment rather than outcome based project.

The one thing that doesn’t go unnoticed are the details put into this album. I’m talking even down to the specifics of how the vocals were recorded. For instance, there are these double vocals throughout on ‘Helicopter’, with the track having a cinematic feel with along with these double strings. But then on ‘Wake in Fright’ the vocals have a smokey, analog/lo-fi presence atop this gorgeous piano play followed by a sax. Did a lot of the stylistics of the record happen in the moment, or was that already pre-thought out?

Jess Ribeiro – It happened in the moment. It was based on feelings and the general mood of my day.

Did the events throughout making Summer of Love magnify the idea of resilience for you? Also with its release, does it feel like a mental cleansing of sorts?

Jess Ribeiro – It feels like I’ve authentically captured a specific period in time more than other records I’ve made. I feel more resilient now to being flexible with musical changes that arise but at the time it felt hard to get through.

Finally, what would you personally like listeners to take away after hearing the album?

Jess Ribeiro – I hope they can see themselves in it and personally connect to some part of it.

https://www.jessribeiro.com/
https://www.instagram.com/ribeirotron/
https://www.facebook.com/jessribeiromusic/
https://jessribeiro.bandcamp.com/