Sachyn Mital Photo/Brooklyn Vegan
Snail Mail at College Street Music Hall.
Snail Mail may be the artist to begin a new era of indie rock spearheaded by female vocalists.
“Hey, we’re Snail Mail, and I’m from Baltimore, Maryland,” the 18-year-old singer — real name Lindsey Jordan — said on the stage of College Street Wednesday night, leaning into the microphone. “I want to thank everyone for coming out and to Belle and Sebastian for letting us perform tonight.”
Jordan began to strum her red and white guitar, and the crowd swayed to the music, taking videos with their phones and holding half-full cups of beer in their hands. Jordan sang songs about young love and heartbreak, asking us questions like, “Do you like me for me? Is there any better feeling than coming clean?” The lyrics felt fitting for someone on the precipice of adulthood, for someone entering maturity but not quite sure how to navigate relationships or the world around her.
“I won’t love anyone else,” she sang, closing her eyes and tilting her head back.
Opening for Belle and Sebastian was part of Jordan’s current tour for her debut album Lush, set to be released Friday. The set included a number of songs from that album, including “Dirt,” “Pristine,” and “Anytime.” The lyrics weren’t always original; it isn’t hard to find a song examining the themes of young love and conflicting emotions. But Jordan was adding her own take, too, as in the song “Habit.”
“Had a dream it was on my ceiling. I had a feeling it was in my head. If I walk outside every time it’s freezing,” she sang.
The heavy instrumentals — clashing cymbals and guitar riffs — sometimes obscured Jordan’s small voice. But a mystical and heady aura in the composition of her songs still shone through. Snail Mail was different, a fresh face, playing music with whirring, shoegaze-like melodies that made this reporter feel like she was on a beach in California, even if the platinum blonde singer was clad in an oversized black sweatshirt.
The set on Wednesday, which featured Alex Bass on bass and Ray Brown on drums, closed with her song “Anytime”Your text to link…. The band left the stage, leaving Snail Mail alone with her guitar, illuminated by blue and purple light. She crooned into the microphone: “Nameless, sweat it out. They don’t love you, do they?”
Isis Davis-Marks Photo
See more of photographer Sachyn Mital’s work here.
