VANCOUVER’S self-styled fairy-folk singer-songwriter Jordan Klassen released an album, Tell Me What to Do, last May, which he hopes connects people organically, drawing upon their shared experiences lyrically and conceptually; and, he hope, making them feel less alone in a crazily paced, hyper-connected world.
It explores what’s it’s like to be in a world where there are (supposedly) no confines to what you can achieve, leaving many feeling overwhelmed and lost. And he’s been on his own journey from the sky’s the limit to a more realistic plotting of the self in the context of it all.
He says: “I’ve found that my orientation has changed significantly. I’m less and less interested in self-discovery and more and more interested in the world around me, systems and relationships and history and where I’ve landed in those ever-shifting sands.”
He’s released a video to run with the hushed excellence of the album’s closing track, “Golden Ladder”, which you can watch down below.
It’s gorgeous in that way the current crop of Canadian singer-songwriters seem to have complete mastery of – Leif Vollebekk, Patrick Watson, Andy Shauf. Which in no way pales Jordan by comparison; this is truly excellent songcraft, autumnal, nuanced, whispered.
The video, directed by Farhad Ghaderi, uses a real mother and daughter rather than actors to lend a poignant visual telling of the cycle of life.
Farhad says: “’Golden Ladder’ is a reflection on the lives of a woman and her mother, as they heal in the face of intergenerational trauma [and] what happens when the role of the caretaker is reversed with time.
“Some of these moments are inspired by my own family’s journey with healing, trauma and immigration.”
Jordan Klassen’s Tell Me What To Do is available now on heavyweight vinyl over at Bandcamp.
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