Review by AVA LIVERSIDGE
Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter Cassandra Jenkins has released her third studio album LP My Light, My Destroyer a
Jenkins’ 2021 record, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, was an unexpected hit. The project gained attention at a critical moment in Jenkins’ career: The moment she had decided to finally quit music. A lifetime of supporting roles, guest appearances, and touring gigs for an artist who just wants to make their own music has the tendency to loosen one’s grip on the hope of solo success, or let go completely.
And while Jenkins’ 2021 breakthrough was no fluke—the record is truly phenomenal—her success was also coupled with a need to regain her footing as an artist. Jenkins was faced with the task of reconsidering what inspired her to create.
My Light, My Destroyer is the dazzling consequence of that task. Jenkins started from without—collecting field recordings, indulging in city soundscapes, and even looking to the sky for some cosmic revelry. Thus, disparate sounds synthesize into a piecemeal testament to the inspiration latent in our average lives, just waiting to be tapped into.
While Jenkins’ roots are firmly planted in her home city’s intimate folk scene, she has matured across her discography, now marrying her heritage with an ambient pop edge. My Light, My Destroyer boasts both strong storytelling and danceable grooves, proving for Jenkins to be a graceful descent into her niche.
Setting the tone for the record is “Delphinium Blue,” Jenkins’ second single that floats in the celestial bodies of synth clouds and fuzz-laden guitars—both free-verse poem and the hazy ambient noise. With a strong celestial thematic current, Jenkins leans into billowy, shoegaze soundscapes across the LP. Single “Only One” is an easy bedroom pop track bolstered by smooth horn interludes.
Finally, “Petco” plunges us into a fuzzy rock cut narrated by a numbed mind who has lost themselves searching for answers in the eyes of lizards and cooing doves. Cassandra Jenkins’ third LP My Light, My Destroyer out now via Dead Oceans.
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