Tancred (aka Jess Abbott) has released her new single, “Jars” today. The track serves as the follow-up to the recently released track, “Mirepoix (feat. Jenny Owen Youngs)”, which marked Abbott’s first new music since 2018’s Nightstand LP. Listen to the new track now below.
Of “Jars”, Abbot said, “I wrote about the transition from being young and alone to being with someone who changes your life and kind of wakes you up from where you’ve been.”
Being in a band and playing music is the kind of thing most people start at a young age, and that was especially true for Abbott, who began recording and touring as an integral member of Now, Now at just 18. Eventually parting ways with the group to exclusively pursue a solo career, Tancred released critically acclaimed albums via Topshelf Records and Polyvinyl Record Co., arguably precursors to the 2020s resurgence of 90s influenced indie rock songwriters. Abbott even had the prescience in 2015 to enlisted producers Anna Waronker (That Dog) and Steven McDonald (Redd Kross) for her album Out Of The Garden.
After spending the entirety of her adulthood as a musician on the move, the past four years away from the tunnel vision of constant touring and recording, paired with a return home to Abbott’s native state of Maine, have allowed for a needed re-set of sorts. Abbott has kept a foothold in the music world all the same, most recently releasing collaborative holiday singles in 2021 with Nelson and Youngs, appearing as a vocalist on Hrishikesh Hirway’s recent single “Still Dreaming”, and songwriting with and for other artists including Youngs, Alex Lahey, and more. With “Mirepoix” and “Jars” Tancred reemerges from a restorative reprieve, sharing Abbott’s remarkable talent for distilling expansive emotionally resonant subjects into satisfyingly concise and perceptive pop influenced gems.