Hometown: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Current Release: The One I Wanted to Be
For Fans Of: Yeasayer, Weezer, Fun.
A conversation with Jack Greenleaf about Sharpless’s second album, The One I Wanted to Be, brings out a lot of different topics. J-Pop star Kyary Pamyu Pamyu, Weezer’s Pinkerton, Lou Reed and Kanye all swirl around. They’re right alongside Japan, musical theater, college and videogame sound design. It sounds sprawling, but somehow, he finds a way to compress all of these influences and more into nine songs, all connected by an abstract, personal narrative about growth.
“I think my intention on this album was to be less afraid of what people think of me when I release music,” Greenleaf says. “Instead of shying away from things I wouldn’t want to talk about, lean into it just a little bit too much.”
There’s little on the album that goes the way you’re expecting, whether it’s the vibrant sound collage of opening track “The Hardest Question,” the sudden hip hop break of “Nothing Can Change,” or the dual vocal rendition of the chorus of “Young Americans” placed inside “Summer 2012.” An upbeat pop atmosphere is contrasted with evident tension, peculiar effects and ventures into dark lyricism.
But that’s just the songs themselves. The album’s production is a curveball itself, a work of lush, catchy pop layered with a full band sound, distinct synthesizers and heavily produced vocals, all created in a home studio by one guy with a MIDI controller, a microphone, Logic and some friends.
“I feel like it’s actually really grating as an album,” Greenleaf says. “It’s very clear, but a lot of the sounds I use are really kind of distorted. Like, I’ll take distorted vocals and sample it to make a weird piano riff, very alien sounding. I can’t really tell if people are going to think of it as a warm album or a cold album.”
With this in mind, Greenleaf has dubbed Sharpless’s music “violent pop,” a term well fitting for this album and the band’s self-titled debut. Sharpless makes use of pop structure and hooky choruses, almost sounding like something you’d hear on Top 40 radio at the root. But then there’s the healthy dose of noise and aggressive synth work. Greenleaf also utilizes Autotune to make ethereal vocal effects more in tune with the tone of each song.
“I always like Autotune where it feels like they’re trying to break out of it almost,” Greenleaf says. “Like they’re trying to sing the wrong note, but Autotune is holding them back, making this sort of weird tension.”
Greenleaf typically handles the instrumentation and songwriting duties for the band, but shares singing duties with his friend Montana Levy. He writes lyrics with characters in mind, and Levy’s vocals on The One I Wanted to Be create a foil to his own character.
“She definitely collaborates with me on the way she sings and her intentions, kind of like how an actor would with a director,” Greenleaf says.
As a member of the NYC-based artistic collective The Epoch, it’s also not uncommon for Greenleaf to be joined by other musicians, such as when Ian Cory of Chicago band Lamniformes pops up to rap on Sharpless tracks periodically or when Felix Walworth of Told Slant sings a guest spot on closing track “Greater Then.”