"Scream into the void until it screams back": Jodie Reid on new album "Absent Again Managing Me"
And South African musicianship
Since 2019, singer-songwriter Jodie Reid has been prolifically putting out good music from South Africa — alternative rock in which she deftly strums guitar chords between thoughtful lyrics that often delve into long shots.
“Secondary Sight” (2019) is an excellent debut with unique lyrics flourishes particular to Reid; and after being a more varied “Celtic Commotion” (2020) than some casual listeners of anything Celtic will be familiar with, Reid’s “Robust Rebellion” (2021) evokes XTC with more leaps of unique imagery and turn of phrases (listen to back-to-back tracks “Burning” and “Bed Bugs” for a sample of the breadth). Then there’s “Echoes Exposed,” (2022) with highlights like “Solitary Confinement” and “Knots.”
Now, after the release of the radio version of song “Outside” last year, Reid recently emerged with “Absent Again Managing Me (AAMM).”
“‘Absent Again Managing Me’ was written as the finale to a series of albums that I promised myself I would release,” she told Chilltown Blues. “Combined, the titles of all albums spell ‘SSCCRREEAAMM’ which I found rather ironic – because screaming is far from what my voice was able to do when I released my first album in 2019."
“Artists and musicians in South Africa rarely get the credit they deserve since there are no existing regulations in place to assist them in making a reasonable living from their creations … It is far from ideal, but most — myself included — have learned to live with it and will continue to scream into the void until it screams back.” - Jodie Reid
Reid’s singing voice can lean adeptly in a few different directions. Over the course of those albums or various covers viewable on her YouTube channel and Instagram page, listeners will hear a voice that can be folksy or operatic or theatrical; and always the assured hands on the guitar strings. If it takes rerecording a whole album for a version she’s satisfied with, as she did here, so be it.
“The songs from ‘AAMM’ were something I’d been working on in the couple of years before embarking on a new venture which left me isolated and questioning most things that I previously found enjoyable,” Reid said. “The acoustic version of ‘Outside’ (featured in the album) was recorded before the radio version was released. It acted as a template for award-winning producer Daniel Baron to create the beating soundscape of instruments and it made the whole process of re-recording it in the studio really convenient!”
“Outside,” a song that can be considered a spiritual sequel to “Solitary Confinement,” reached number four on 5FM's "5 Nights Chart."
“The recording and production of ‘Outside’ (radio version) was sponsored by the Southern African Music Rights Organization (SAMRO) which is a non-profit organization that administers performing rights in South Africa. They offer their members an opportunity to apply for the SAMRO Music Creation Support Fund every year which, if granted, can greatly assist members to cover costs involved when releasing music. The amount allocated enabled me to book studio time with Baron who was an absolute joy to work with.”
But joy as a concept, or at least the playfulness in dealing with more somber themes on some of her earlier albums, was beside the point here.
“The previous albums certainly tended to hint at the instability of things while harboring a juvenile sense of hope that something would change. In comparison, I believe that ‘Absent Again Managing Me’ explores the inevitability of being hurt in a very real way all the while in a state of acceptance and surrender — with the fight having been knocked out from beneath. It is likely one of the most depressing albums I’ve released so far. It definitely needed a hug, but would likely fight everyone who tried to give it back with a stick. Needless to say, I love it.”
Maybe the lightest hand comes with “Peanut Butter Bliss,” where Reid sings, “Instead I ate half my heart in peanut butter / cracked open the jar all through and under / and oh, how it tasted / Now I’m allergic.”
Certain tracks being a highlight on any album depends of course on the listener. “Cut the Rope” and “Awake” were among those on AAMM for this listener. But the whole album is very polished, with Reid refining some techniques she’s utilized on earlier albums. The atmospheric and foreboding “Carousel Gone” creates a sonic landscape that encapsulates the singer knowing someone on a carousel as it spins and they seemingly disappear, with "No way of knowing that you'd be there and then gone again," as Reid sings.
Reid wrote “Awake” during a brief period of insomnia a while ago, she said.
“It was a bit of a challenge to finish writing because there were either too many words or not enough, and the parts never seemed to fit right. It only really came together once I started recorded it in April last year during some of the most sleep deprived days I have ever experienced.
“‘Awake’ speaks to the inner battle of quieting thoughts so that the body may rest while realizing how alone you are within that process,” Reid explained. “Depending on the perspective, it could also be seen as the ponderings of a difficult question: who are you while the world sleeps?”
And speaking of sleeping, all of the artwork for Reid’s albums has been done by Cape Town-based artist Michael Smith; and with “Absent Again Minding Me,” Smith adds to a catalog of striking imagery like the cover for 2021’s “Robust Rebellion,” in which a woman seemingly sleeps on a coast that serves as a bed — with sand and waves as covers and sheets.
On AAMM, the cover illustration of Reid sports a bandaged nose as she, upside down, holds a jar of peanut butter in one hand and a spoon in the other. The bandage was a homage to an actual injury Reid had that didn’t have anything to do with the procurement of peanut butter, she said.
“Funnily enough, I broke my nose once most of the album had been recorded (and once all songs had been written),” she said. “The accident involved me reaching for the top shelf in a cupboard after a very long drive but it is safe to say that no peanut butter was responsible for the act. The broken nose on the album artwork was added by [Smith] just after the accident which somehow tied it all together in more ways than one.”
More and more, it’s very hard to think that the U.S. and South Africa have more things in common than the former’s dominant pop culture readily acknowledges. In the U.S., infrastructure has been deteriorating most rapidly from the bottom up, with arts in public schools generally being quite minimal — as a NYC-raised comedian shared, in a Chilltown Blues interview — unless that public district is middle (but more certainly upper-middle)-class.
“As South Africans, I think we tend to place value in pop cultural things from more developed countries due to the perspective that the works might be of a higher standard since they have spent more time building a stronger cultural foundation,” Reid said. “For example, music is highly regarded in the UK and most schools include the subject in its curriculum – while in SA, there may be a handful of private schools that offer music as a subject.
“Artists and musicians in South Africa rarely get the credit they deserve since there are no existing regulations in place to assist them in making a reasonable living from their creations. That being said, I think that South Africans are known to be incredibly resilient and some may have adopted the perspective that if they work hard enough, they may be able to achieve their goals; even if that means recognition being limited locally,” Reid continued. “It is far from ideal, but most — myself included — have learned to live with it and will continue to scream into the void until it screams back.”
“Absent Again Managing Me” is available on several streaming platforms. Check it out and learn more about Reid at allmylinks.com/jodiereidmusic.