Jessica’s Brother release their second track, All The Better, following on from their well-received debut Overnight Horror at the start of the year.
Channelling the spirit of the Brothers Grimm to an otherworldly atmosphere, rich in jagged, uneven, perfect harmonies, All The Better is a hushed, eerie folk song. It explores the melancholy and optimism of breaching adolescence and the limbo before adulthood; a simple tale of growing up.
There are themes of joy, anger, silliness. The characters change, the instruments clamber over each other in a small room. Their shared influences include Silver Jews, Jason Molina, Richard Thompson and Neil Young.
All The Better is their second single, following on from Overnight Horror from the tail end of 2017. A full-length album is due in the summer.
The single artwork comes from Tom’s sister, the eponymous Jessica [Jessica Jane Charleston].
Jessica’s Brother first started playing together in October 2016 when Jonny Helm (drums, also of The Wave Pictures) asked Charlie Higgs (bass, previously of Ramshackle Union Band) to come and play some songs written by Tom Charleston (Jessica’s Brother). The trio clicked immediately, and just 9 months later recorded the album with Laurie Sherman at The Cube and with Darren Hayman. A few friends joined them in the studio, including Dan Mayfield on violin (Enderby’s Room) and Paul Rains on guitar and slide guitar (Allo Darlin’ / Tigercats).
“Jessica’s Brother’s shambling nerdcore is clearly a passion project intended to please only themselves. Good for them. Their pivotal number Polstead Instead, loosely based on the 1976 Jonathan Richman track New England, is a jingling rush that would have headed John Peel’s Festive 50 in another life.” The Guardian
