ALBUM REVIEW: Jessye DeSilva Keeps ‘Renovations’ Real
Matt Conner
Posted On July 13, 2023
Rooted in acoustic genres noted for connective storytelling and subversive turns of phrase, Jessye DeSilva is a singer-songwriter whose strong vocal work makes good use of these angles to craft important and timely compositions about issues related to identity and empowerment. Their third LP, Renovations, builds on an impressive catalog and a growing platform.
Jessye DeSilva (photo by Will Payne Harrison)
DeSilva, nonbinary and trans, wastes no time setting the record straight on Renovations with the opening couplet (from “Dysphoria”): “I don’t want to be your social justice project / I’ve got enough work to do myself.” Within that single salvo, DeSilva offers themselves as an open book with a brave face — a signal of what’s to come on the rest of Renovations, a courageous album vulnerably documenting their wrestling with myriad subjects.
“Proud and Lonely” is a sparse, slower number that’s a lovely highlight on Renovations. With Alex Calabrese on acoustic guitar and Cecilia Vacanti on fiddle, DeSilva’s classically trained vocal encourages the listener to “lay down those heavy bones you carry with you” while relying on vivid natural images to illustrate the titular tension.
DeSilva clashes with the American dream on “Let It Burn” and documents their childhood discomfort from growing up in church as a pastor’s kid on “Sundays.” But DeSilva is not an angry artist waging war with their songcraft. The title track reveals how they’re still coming to terms with some aspects of who they are, using an analogy of a house being renovated to describe themselves as “Still not ready to be seen … Not ready to see who I’m supposed to be.”
That vulnerability is what makes DeSilva’s latest album feel important for both the artist (and their own self-understanding) and the listener, especially those whose experience may mirror theirs. There are triumphant songs here, to be sure, such as “Firecracker,” but the cry of “Clouds” is what lingers longest. “Darling, I can’t count the ways that I’ve been stared at / But I can add up on one hand the times I’ve actually been seen,” DeSilva sings. “We deserve to live our lives outside the margins.” Amen.
Jessye DeSilva’s Renovations is out July 14.
