ALBUM REVIEW: Jill Andrews Writes Songs Across Time for ‘Modern Age’

The sound of a cassette tape slipping into a boombox and the click of the record button begins Modern Age, the newest release by Jill Andrews. That throwback sets the tone for an album full of nostalgia for the simpler days of childhood, but also a rumination on the effects of time on lives and relationships.

The album was initially conceived a few years ago, when Andrews was invited to sing at the memorial service for a childhood friend. The period of mourning and thoughts of teen misadventures with her friend set the stage for the album’s memory song, “High Fives.” A co-write with Andrews’ Hush Kids partner Peter Groenwald, it’s a straightforward song about how time robs us of our best moments, leaving only memories. In the song’s most poignant verse, Andrews sings about a favorite toy, a trampoline, and how “making money makes jumping hard / Trade it in for a nicer car / and a better view.”

Ramping up the nostalgia even further is album opener “80s Baby.” Another co-write with Groenwald, it’s a laundry list of ’80s and early ’90s favorites. Namechecking “Strawberry Wine,” Mario Kart, and Back to the Future, it’s a song that will evoke happy memories among many Generation X’ers.

Jill Andrews (photo by Fairlight Hubbard)

On the darker side of nostalgia is “Better Life.” An Andrews solo write, it tells the story of a friend who took a wrong turn in their social relationships after school, with tragic effect. “They could never save you / Like you thought they could,” Andrews croons, before wondering “Were they worth the sacrifice? / Wish you had a better life.” It’s left ambiguous what took the narrator’s friend, but it’s made clear it was a sad end to what was a promising life.

Another song about the less happy side of passing time is “Dark Days.” In the song, Andrews’ narrator sees the decline of a friend whose memories of the past were less nostalgic than traumatic. Through a “storm of memories,” the song’s subject becomes lost, “following faded lines / to your past life.” She laments her initial unwillingness to help her friend confront their dark memories because “I got scared of where you went.”

Whether you’re an “80’s Baby” or not, Modern Age is an album worth repeated listens. As she has throughout her career, Andrews displays a talent shared by the best of songwriters. She consistently shows the ability to take the personal and make it universal, finding new light to shed on oft-covered topics.

Jill Andrews’ Modern Age is out Aug. 18 on Vulture Vulture/Tone Tree.