The Friday Dispatch
jasmine.4.t, Danny L. Harle, Greg Freeman, and how to help the music community in L.A.
The unbreaking of jasmine.4.t
Much of jasmine.4.t’s debut album You Are The Morning – set to be released on 17 January – is bathed in a glow of candy-coloured joy and catharsis. The brainchild of Bristol-born and Manchester-based trans artist Jasmine Cruickshank, it’s an album that looks for meaning first and foremost in love – love for her friends, love for her personal journey, and for an intimacy that had once felt so far out of reach.
Jasmine.4.t became the first ever international signee to Phoebe Bridgers’ Saddest Factory label – joining Sloppy Jane, MUNA, Katie Gavin, and Claud, who adds backing vocals to the uplifting “Best Friend’s House”, alongside contributions from Bridgers, Dacus, and their boygenius bandmate Julien Baker, with the trio sharing production duties.
A friend of Cruickshank’s once told her that solidarity is the highest form of love and that’s really the core message of You Are The Morning, from the warts-and-all acceptance of “Kitchen” and “Roan” to the unconditional sanctuary of “Best Friend’s House” and the Adrianne Lenker-inspired title track.
In fulfilling her own potential, Cruickshank says she’s often surprised by the depth of feeling her music seems to have stirred up. “I’ve been so overwhelmed with messages and comments from trans women and other queer people expressing gratitude and I’m a bit like, ‘Why are you grateful? I’m the one who’s reaping here,’” she says. “I didn’t expect that, because I’m just starting out here, but it’s so wonderful to know that my being a visible trans woman in the music industry has meant a lot to a lot of people already. It’s wonderful to wake up to all this wholesome shit in my Instagram notifications. I do get a lot of hate as well, but it’s massively outweighed by the amount of love.”
Danny L Harle on DJ Paul Elstak
I played a gig in Brussels and I went to a club afterwards. There's this moment where everybody whips out their classic childhood songs at the end of the night, and it was all these gabber songs, not gabber by a traditional definition, but these quite hardcore, hard dance songs, and this was one of them. That's when I first heard it. I've done my own version of it and I think MC Boing might be interested in jumping on it, and the lyrics “I wanna see the rainbow high in the sky / I wanna see you and me on a bird, flying away.” I know this isn’t technically the riff, but those lyrics are absolutely brilliant. It has this riff and it was this basic arpeggio that held so much meaning for everybody there.
Paul Elstack is an absolute legend of the scene and a friend of mine, Lil Texas, worked with him recently and he's just as relentless now as he was back then. Like I said it’s not a sentimental list, I'm not trying to be historical or anything, or bring anyone through any kind of history or anything, but this feels so classic. It resonated so strongly and to me, it's still to this day, it holds that same joy to it.
It has this energy that I love from happy hardcore music, even though it's not technically like that. it's a quite terrifying joy, and in a way there's nothing scarier than the thought of this destructive, immense strength. If you imagine a creature destroying a city, there'd be nothing scarier than for it to have a big smiley face. It would be more understandable if it had a big roaring face like Godzilla, but if it had a big smiley face, that would be the scariest. I get an awestruck sense from this kind of riff because it has this relentless joy to it.
To our friends in L.A., with love
As the fires in L.A. rage on, thousands are left to watch their lives go up in smoke. Homes, photos, and furniture; vintage tees and records and magazines; and life’s work and life savings have all been lost. As one of the world’s largest and most vibrant music hubs, many friends and familiar faces in the community have now found themselves in need of help as they try to rebuild. If you’d like to pitch in, please check out this list of members of the industry who are in particular need right now. It includes everyone from artists such as Empress Of, DAWES, and Diiv to managers, publicists, agents, and producers. Sending thoughts and strength to you, music folk of L.A.
New year, new music. After a (much needed) holiday break, the release calendar is back in full swing. Starting 2025 off strong, we have the sophomore album from Ethel Cain, Perverts, which sweeps you off your feet for a journey to heaven and back. Also this week, we got Who Let The Dogs Out from Lambrini Girls, The Human Fear from Franz Ferdinand, Mon Rovîa’s Act 4: Atonement EP, and Bad Bunny’s Debí Tirar Más Fotos. We also got fresh tracks from Japanese Breakfast, Blondshell, Lutalo, and indie-folk newcomer barrett.
The introduction
With a timeless voice and a sharp pen, 26-year-old Montgomery County, Maryland-based indie rocker Greg Freeman is making waves in the scene. Next Wednesday, he’ll be taking the stage at Best Fit’s Five Day Forecast.
Describe your sound… Rock and roll type music.
How you started making music… Writing songs in a tool shed in my backyard.
You were once a baker, and you thought you might stay a baker — before music. Tell us what you love (or loved) about the craft:… The attention to craft, practice, pacing. You don’t just make bread, you have to listen to how bread tells you how to make it. Writing songs is kind of the same.
A line of poetry you can't get out of your head… “They say patriotism is the last refugee to which a scoundrel clings / Steal a little and they throw you in jail /Steal a lot and they make you king” -Bob Dylan
Greg Freeman’s acoustic live for “Colorado” is out now.
Something Old, Something New
Every week, we share recommendations from the Best Fit community on two iconic records — one from the past, one from the present. This week, Editor-in-Chief Paul Bridgewater shares his thoughts on Double Nickles on the Dime by the Minutemen (1984) and Julia Holter’s Something in the Room She Moves by Julia Holter (2024).
I’m not sure what you’ve been doing with your life if never made room for Double Nickels on the Dime which – along with the story of the Minutemen – should be required knowledge for anyone who stands up claiming to be a music fan. Yeh it’s got the Jackass theme but this is record that screams out to anyone who ever dreamed of using music to escape their town or texture. 45 songs – most around 90 seconds long – lo-fi as fuck and certainly one of the best records of the 80s, it’s a testament to the musical chemistry three people can have with one another: just go listen to “Shit from an Old Notebook” or “History Lesson Part 2” or “Retreat”. The band’s refrain “We jam econo” is a call to arms that more relevant in 2024 than ever before.
An error I take full responsibility for is the exclusion of Julia Holter’s sixth album, Something in the Room She Moves, from our end of year lists. Straddling the space between experimentation and accessibility, it’s executed with intricacy and sensuality. It’s not her best record - that would be 2018’s double length, jaw-droppingly ambitious Aviary or maybe Have You In My Wilderness from three years before – but it might be my favourite thing she’s done. There’s a confidence in the melodies and expansive arrangements on Something in the Room She Moves that’s just so comforting and also sounds like everyone involved had a jolly good time too.
Listen to the week in new music by following our Discovery playlist
Dropping at midnight every Thursday, follow our playlist for a taste of the best new music from the most exciting breaking artists – 20 new tracks from the last five days in music that we’ve got on repeat in the Best Fit office right now.
Topping our list this week we’ve got Clara Kimera, Cryogeyser, Fust, Liza Lo, and coverstar Isak Benjamin.
“I woke up the other night and it was so clear to me that all through my life it’s been luck, not intelligence or wisdom, but pure luck in the face of utter foolishness, that I’m still alive.”