Jessica Breanne’s new LP Rosebud Queen begins with its title track, opening on an ambient sampling of nature sounds. She creates a sense of place and opens a window to the world in which she tells her story. The band sets up a loping groove with an unusual harmony that doesn’t tell you quite how it expects you to respond emotionally. A few bars later, her soulful voice, whose uniqueness and boldness bring to mind Joanna Newsom and Karen Dalton, comes in crooning.

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Breanne sings, “I love your beautiful face / Tell me, what was your rose / And your thorn today,” foreshadowing the themes of darkness and light she explores throughout the album. The longtime Nashvillian singer-songwriter originally hails from Uncertain, Texas, a small town on the Louisiana border characterized by wilderness and swamps. Breanne carries this environment with her everywhere she goes. It’s a primary influence on the overall Southern Gothic tone of the album, which confronts death, pain and loss through nature metaphors and literary storytelling.

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The songs are tied together so well that it’s hard to separate one from the whole. Rollicking “Fireflies” and dance-tinged “Belle of the Ball” tap into the feeling of entrapment, whether it’s prompted by literal inspiration like quarantine or something more ephemeral like broken dreams and loneliness. In “Bloom,” reminiscent of swoony Roy Orbison, Breanne repeats like a mantra, “Digging up my dreams just to replant them / In hopes they’ll survive / It’s hard to tear the wings from my dreams sometimes / They say patience comes with wisdom / And then wisdom comes with time.” She places self-examination and hard-earned lessons at the forefront. On “Bad Shape,” she reclaims herself from someone who’s deceived her while letting go of the shame that comes with being fooled: “Steal the magic away from a woman / Just to try and fill your void / But that power is not yours to take.” Closing track “Garden” carries the softness of “Courtyard” by Bobbie Gentry, whose music and story are a huge influence on Breanne. It leaves listeners with an encouraging benediction, “I wanna grow like my garden.”

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The risk Breanne took in being vulnerable paid off on Rosebud Queen. She created a record that she hopes may help others facing the same darkness. -Olivia Ladd, 

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Press:​

• Psychedelic Baby Magazine

• Nashville Scene

• Music Crowns

• Various Small Flames

• Jessica Breanne on Conversations with Dwyer Podcast

 

Release Date: Out now on all digital streaming services

                        Cassette and Vinyl on November 4, 2022. 

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Purchase from Official Store or Bandcamp