Repeated plays won’t prepare listeners for how wonderfully loud the chorus gets, how suddenly and furiously the song shifts from a brooding, synth-driven sulk to an all-out temper tantrum of the heart.
On the single “Heat Wave,” Jordan offered a quintessential Snail Mail blessing to a person identified by the adoring nickname “Green Eyes”: “I hope the love that you find swallows you wholly.” Such obliqueness made sense; Jordan was still quite young, and her processes of self-discovery and uncovering her sexuality both found expression in her songwriting.
Jordan’s voice has changed since “Lush”; it’s become hoarse, feral and absolutely heartbreaking.
She’s often called Liz Phair’s heir apparent, but a more direct influence seems to be Mary Timony, the sonically adventurous solo artist and one-time leader of the band Helium.
Jordan’s ability to feel everything so deeply is what previously made her feel like she was dying, but by the end of the album she shows it’s also what has given her the strength to move on with her life.