MUSIC

A love spell might be inherently romantic, but for Jenny Parrott, it symbolizes something deeper — It’s platonic, and it’s about community. While there may be a romantic element to it, for Parrott, it’s a prayer for the kind of love she wants the world to have. At least that’s the ethos of their fourth solo album, aptly titled “Love Spell.”

Born in New Haven, Connecticut and based in Austin, Texas, Parrott has had a prolific career in music, releasing three albums with the swing folk outfit Shotgun Party and two LPs with the indie-folk duo Loves It! Over the past seven years, Parrott has released three other albums including 2017’s When I Come Down, 2021’s The Fire I Saw and 2023’s Pregnancy Choir. 

But “Love Spell” feels significant for Parrott who is settling into parenthood and on the verge of a landmark 40th birthday. They’ve never been more confident and more ready for a turning point in their career. 

Written over several years (and recorded during fits and spurts in fall 2023), “Love Spell” is teeming with the soulful influences of Sharon Jones, Amy Winehouse and Sam Cooke; the avant-folk sensibilities of Bjork and Nina Nastasia; and the melancholic vocal harmonies a la The Shangri-Las and Grouper. In it, Parrott tackles coming out, queer history, mental health and spirituality while incorporating the stunning sound of the Omnichord — a charming musical gift from her husband — where they can.

Heavily inspired by gospel singer Washington Phillips, the album’s lead single “The Other Cheek” is flanked by a heavenly-sounding harp. In it, Parrott grapples with the cultural notion of people telling you to feel and process something. To help illuminate the Shangri-Las’ influence, Parrott tapped her friend and musician Brennen Leigh for the crystalline folk ballad “If You Are An Angel” and “Loving You is a Little Bad.” That ‘60s pop soundscape continues on the sweet voice message-turned-mental health ditty “Checking in on You” and on “I Hear It All the Time,” which navigates the dichotomy of watching someone move on from a breakup while the other person is stuck in the soul-crushing limbo of grief. “I hear it all the time / that you’re no longer mine / that you found a way / to get through the day-to-day,” they sing wistfully.

Parrott creates a track for the wayward atheists with the country-folk-tinged “When I’m in Need of a Loving God,” where she tackles how to pray or sing when you didn’t grow up going to church. The brief number “I’m on Fire” pairs Parrott’s affinity for gospel with a richer twang. Over gritty guitar riffs, “Juana Inés de la Cruz,” Parrott pays tribute to a Mexican nun from the 1500s who is believed to be a lesbian by many scholars in a song fully sung in Spanish.  

A departure from her more flowery songwriting, “Coming Out” allows Parrott to channel her inner Kathleen Hanna while illustrating the experience of coming into their sexuality as a queer person. “I do my thinking between your legs / your love gives me a heart attack,” she wails.

Ultimately, with their 14-track album, Parrott’s wish is that people can determine the kind of love they want to give and receive in the world — and the love legacy they want to leave behind.

— GIRLIE ACTION