Joanna Sternberg
I’ve Got Me
Fat Possum
30 June 2023
Joanna Sternberg’s music seems at first glance to be largely indebted to the New York anti-folk of the late 90s and early 00s, and particularly the leading lights of that scene, Jeffrey Lewis and the Moldy Peaches. The self-deprecating lyrics, at once knowing and honest, are there in abundance, along with the lo-fi, no-budget recordings, and the tone: simultaneously wide-eyed and streetwise. But there’s something much deeper going on with Sterberg’s music. A recent New Yorker article focused on their Jewish heritage: their grandmother was Fraydele Oysher, an influential Yiddish singer and stage actor, and the more outwardly performative aspects of Sternberg’s work come perhaps from this lineage. Oysher’s theatre roles required a multiplicity of voices and identities, and an ability to walk the tightrope between naivety and sophistication, often using humour as the balance pole. A host of American Jewish performers – Tom Lehrer, Randy Newman, Regina Spektor – have explored their heritage directly or indirectly through song, but Sternberg’s approach is highly individual, honest and sharply contemporary.
This side of Sternberg is most evident in the piano-led, Newman-influenced songs like the irresistible Mountain High. Despite the low-tech nature of the recording, Sternberg’s gift as a pianist is obvious (they shared a piano teacher with Alicia Keys), and the melody is something Carole King would be proud of. I Will Be With You tempers the lyrical yearning with funny, jumpy piano flourishes and a folksy violin solo. Drifting On A Cloud is full of the jaunty ghosts of musical theatre and vocal jazz.
By contrast, the title track has the feel of a campfire hymn, but turned on its head. Instead of exalting in the blind love of some or other religious figure, it examines the difficulties we encounter in trying to love ourselves. Lyrics like ‘between self hatred and self awareness/is a very small thin line’ provide a gateway to Sternberg’s personal philosophy. People Are Toys To You is like Kimya Dawson updating Positively 4th Street, while I’ll Make You Mine is a simple strum-along hiding unfathomable depths of longing, interrupted halfway through by a jazzy piano break. The Love I Give has the easy feel of a country-folk standard until you notice the self-lacerating bite of the words, and Human Magnet is a miniature soft rock opus filtered through a DIY folk aesthetic.
Sternberg’s skills as a lyricist have developed since their excellent 2019 debut, Then I Try Some More. It’s evident on songs like Stockholm Syndrome, a wry look back at a failed (and possibly codependent) relationship, where they ask the telling question, ‘Did you keep your room dirty so I’d feel like I had the flu?/Did you expect me to clean it like your mom must’ve done for you?’ Closer The Song is perhaps most impressive, its world-weary, bar-room bleary outlook buoyed by twinkling piano, loping folk-rock bass and sudden moments of lyrical sweetness.
Joanna Sternberg is an utterly distinctive songwriter and performer. There are very few singers currently exploring contemporary subjects like anxiety and emotional insecurity with such warmth, humour and deftness of touch. I’ve Got Me is a sweet, smart and sometimes sad document that, like many of the most individual works of art, exists beyond genre.
Order ‘I’ve Got Me’ via Bandcamp
Check out Joanna’s upcoming gigs, including openings for Kurt Vile in September and Angel Olsen in Decemeber.
Details can be found here: https://www.joannasternberg.com/shows
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