Daily Dose: Julia Jacklin, “Head Alone”

Daily Dose is your daily source for the song you absolutely, positively need to hear every day. Curated by the Paste Music Team.

Melbourne-based singer-songwriter and Paste Best of What’s Next pick Julia Jacklin has announced her sophomore album, Crushing. Our latest taste of the LP, due out in February, is new single “Head Alone,” which follows the October release of “Body.”

Crushing’s title ties into ideas of romantic infatuation and physical pressure alike; Jacklin explores both emotional and bodily experience, considering the ways in which external forces affect our internal lives. “This album came from spending two years touring and being in a relationship, and feeling like I never had any space of my own,” says Jacklin. “For a long time I felt like my head was full of fear and my body was just this functional thing that carried me from point A to B, and writing these songs was like rejoining the two.”

Enter “Head Alone,” in which Jacklin refuses to put romantic passion before her bodily autonomy: “C’mon, gimme the room tonight / you know I’ve told you before that you hold me too tight,” she sings, “I don’t wanna be touched all the time / I raised my body up to be mine.” Backed by sunny guitars and low-tempo drums, Jacklin advocates for herself, gently insisting upon a love that doesn’t suffocate, but leaves room for her to just be: “I have your back / more than I have mine / I want you to feel good / all of the time,” she sings. “Yeah, I’ll say it till he understands / you can love somebody without using your hands.”

“I wrote most of ‘Head Alone’ on tour, singing it to myself, looking out the window on endless car journeys. It’s not a song that comes from a singular experience. It came from two years of feeling like the space around me shrinking to the point where I couldn’t even raise my arms,” recalls Jacklin. “This song is me raising my arms and running into an open field. A bit of a plea to those around me to give me space and a song to remind myself that’s it’s okay to enforce boundaries, the good people in your life will listen, adapt and still love you.”

Crushing, the follow-up to Jacklin’s acclaimed 2016 debut Don’t Let the Kids Win, is due out on Feb. 22, 2019, via Polyvinyl. You can preorder the album here.

After a handful of year-end shows, Jacklin will embark on a 2019 world tour in support of her new album, with 24 North American dates on the docket. Black Belt Eagle Scout will provide support at most of Jacklin’s Stateside shows.

Listen to “Head Alone” and Jacklin’s 2017 Daytrotter Session below, and find the Crushing album art and tracklist further down, along with Jacklin’s world tour dates.

Crushing Album Art:

Crushing Tracklist:
01. Body
02. Head Alone
03. Pressure To Party
04. Don’t Know How To Keep Loving You
05. When The Family Flies In
06. Convention
07. Good Guy
08. You Were Right
09. Turn Me Down
10. Comfort

Julia Jacklin World Tour Dates:

November
27 – London, U.K. @ Omeara [SOLD OUT]
28 – Manchester, U.K. @ YES [SOLD OUT]
29 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Glad Cafe [SOLD OUT]

December
29 – Woodford, Australia @ Woodford Folk Festival

February
21 – Perth, Australia @ Perth Festival
27 – Christchurch, New Zealand @ Blue Smoke
28 – Dunedin, New Zealand @ Refuel

March
01 – Auckland, New Zealand @ Hollywood Cinema
02 – Wellington, New Zealand @ San Fran
05 – Wollongong, Australia @ UOW Unibar
06 – Canberra, Australia @ ANU
09 – Brisbane, Australia @ Triffid
08-11 – Adelaide, Australia @ WOMADelaide
14 – Melbourne, Australia @ Forum Theatre
15 – Sydney, Australia @ Metro Theatre
16 – Newcastle, Australia @ Cambridge Hotel
26 – Brighton, U.K. @ Haunt
27 – Bristol, U.K. @ Fleece
28 – Birmingham, U.K. @ Castle & Falcon
29 – Manchester, U.K. @ Yes
30 – Dublin, Ireland @ Whelans

April
02 – Glasgow, U.K. @ Stereo
03 – Leeds, U.K. @ Belgrave Music Hall
04 – London, U.K. @ Electric Brixton
05 – Paris, France @ Les Etoiles
08 – Brussels, Belgium @ AB Club
09 – Amsterdam, Netherlands @ Paradiso-Noord
10 – Cologne, Germany @ Blue Shell
11 – Hamburg, Germany @ Molotow Sky Bar
12 – Copenhagen, Denmark @ Vega
15 – Berlin, Germany @ Privatclub
16 – Munich, Germany @ Milla
17 – Zurich, Switzerland @ Bogen F
24 – New York, N.Y. @ The Bowery Ballroom #
25 – Philadelphia, Pa. @ Johnny Brenda’s #
26 – Allston, Mass. @ Great Scott #
27 – Montreal, Que. @ Bar Le Ritz PDB #
28 – Toronto, Ont. @ Horseshoe Tavern #
30 – Washington, D.C. @ DC9 #

May
01 – Richmond, Va. @ Strange Matter #
02 – Carrboro, N.C. @ Cat’s Cradle Back Room #
06 – Nashville, Tenn. @ Third Man Records #
08 – Chicago, Ill. @ Schubas Tavern #
09 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ 7th Street Entry #
10 – Omaha, Neb. @ Reverb Lounge #
11 – Kansas City, Mo. @ recordBar #
13 – Denver, Colo. @ Larimer Lounge #
14 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Urban Lounge #
17 – Vancouver, B.C. @ Fox Cabaret #
18 – Seattle, Wash. @ Tractor Tavern #
19 – Portland, Ore. @ Mississippi Studios
21 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Swedish American Hall
23 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Teragram Ballroom

June
03 – Dallas, Texas @ Club Dada
04 – Austin, Texas @ Barracuda (Indoors) #
05 – Houston, Texas @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs) #
06 – New Orleans, La. @ Gasa Gasa #

(# – w/ Black Belt Eagle Scout)