On surprise EP “♡”, Jane Remover returns to earth with style
Jane Remover has often felt like a larger than life presence. Throughout her discography she seems to hover off the ground, dropping one liners and abstract verses down to an industry and public that’s still trying to figure out what the hell she’s doing up there.
The crescendo of this persona, both in swagger and volume, was this April’s Revengeseekerz, the production of which can best be described as “everything all at once”. At times the tracks seemed to be playing at 1.5x speed, the listeners brain struggling to keep up with the sheer density of sound. Lyrically, Jane was at her most bombastic, dropping bars like “Jesus never had it with a freak bitch” and “Dear god, place a curse on those who wronged me”. She may not be divine, but listening to Revengeseekerz it’s not hard to picture her walking on water.
But with the release of December’s ♡ (Heart, as I’ll call it from here out), Jane has descended back to Earth to mingle with us commoners. From the jump, on Magic I Want U, Jane shows us her sensitive side, telling us of a boy who knows just what to say and just how to touch her. She can’t stop thinking about him. She’s not asking him to bow, she’s blushing and offering to be his groupie. It’s incredibly charming.
The production retains its digicore stylings, but takes a step back on the intensity. Doing so allows Jane’s vocal performance shines through, demonstrating real growth even in the few intervening months since Revengeseekerz.
Jane continues the lovesick lyricism on So What?, giving us more details about the target of her affection (he’s apparently a musician). It’s fun, it’s flirty, and dare I say a it’s bit poppy. If Revengeseekerz is an album you listen to at home on good headphones, Heart is an album you blow out the bass in your car with while you’re driving with friends.
Music Baby doubles down the good vibes, with a satisfyingly layered drop and the distorted vocals as we’ve come to expect from Jane. It expands on some of the ideas and lines from So What?, working some of the same lines and vocal ideas into a track fit for the club.
But, as we soon discover on Flash in the Pan, this isn’t a new relationship and the boy stuck in her head isn’t hers. He thought it was a fling but Jane can’t get him off of her mind. (“Pretty boy said I was a flash in the pan, I can take her flow if I can’t take her man”). This re-contextualizes the former tracks, revealing that this isn’t an album strictly about love, things are quite a bit more complicated. Jane opened herself up and got hurt, and for once we are a voyeur to her most personal feelings.
Jane, like us, seems surprised at how hurt she is. On How To Teleport Jane explores this unexpected pain, singing “I didn’t know I could break like other dolls”. She feels used for her body, but still wants more. (“You can close my eyes, take me back home, you can move my body around”). She craves being desired by the “pretty boy” and is devastated that he won’t even give her his phone number.
Dream Sequence ends the EP on a bitter note, as Jane sings “When the wind whistles you’ll wake up unlucky again, with none of your things, your band mates, your lovers or your friends.” Goddamn.
Heart packs so much into its 25 minute runtime, an emotional arc the likes of which are rarely seen in such a concise EP format. Jane has condensed the bombastic and overwhelming Revengeseekerz into something more refined, more sensitive, all while retaining her killer edge and impeccable production. Chicago has in its midst a truly exciting talent, I cannot wait to see where she takes us next.