This Valentine’s Day, Snail Mail aka Lindsey Jordan released the demo ‘Adore You’, a raw bedroom-pop version of her 2021 album’s lead single and title track, ‘Valentine‘.
With her debut album Lush, Jordan’s confessional, emotionally astute penchant for lyricism earned her rave reviews and a loyal cult following, but the Maryland-bred indie-rock prodigy saw an even more fervent reception for her sophomore release. And rightfully so. In Valentine, we see 22-year-old Jordan’s lyrical metamorphosis, from sheltered teenage ennui into lamentations of her real-life experience of love and loss. While her musings are just as thoughtful, the evolution of her subject matter makes the project more mature and, somehow, even more sincere.
Sonically, ‘Adore You’ is almost unrecognisable from the album version, lacking the anthemic propulsion afforded by Brad Cook‘s production (indie rock’s BTS messiah, his name adorning the credits of Bon Iver, The War on Drugs, Sharon Van Etten and many more). Without its intro’s wandering synths that slowly unfurl into a chorus of erupting guitars, the demo is devoid of ‘Valentine’s’ peaks and troughs, instead, remaining constrained throughout – just layers and layers of Jordan’s vocals atop sparse guitar.
Although ‘Adore You’ does not displace ‘Valentine’ by any means, it serves a different purpose: providing a gorgeous immersive insight into Jordan’s anguish. Without ‘Valentine’s’ thrashing, almost spiteful, chorus (“So why’d you want to erase me?/Darling Valentine”), we’re left with pining verses, filled with declarations of love only made by those who’ve fallen hard (“Then when life slows down/We’ll raise some kids to have our style”). Yet, recorded in Jordan’s childhood home, in the midst of heartbreak, we know it’s unrequited; you can hear it in her voice cracks that she’s balancing on the precipice of tears. It’s this kind of raw display of the vulnerability that won the hearts of her listeners in the first place, loved-up and heartbroken alike.
‘Adore You’ is the first release following the delay of the band’s North American/European tour last November, with Jordan undergoing surgery to prevent permanent damage to her vocal cords. Rescheduled for this June, Snail Mail will be returning to the UK, with all previous tickets still valid. Buy one of the few remaining tickets here.
Words by Elina Ganatra
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