After several years as the primary songwriter in Australian indie group Teeth And Tongue, Jess Cornelius is ready to pivot to a solo career. Since making the switch, Cornelius has also undergone some major life changes. Cornelius picked up and moved from Australia to LA with her partner and shortly afterward found out she was pregnant. The singer translated these experiences into song, and Cornelius has shared the lead single, “Body Memory,” off her debut solo album, Distance.
“Body Memory” arrives alongside a comical video. The singer, dressed head-to-toe in a royal blue sweatsuit, dances across the dusty hills of California. In a statement, Cornelius said the visual changed directions as soon as she arrived on location:
“Originally I had a much more elaborate, narrative-based concept, where I was this woman running away from a cult, (hence the tracksuit and Nikes), to be filmed in Oildale and Posey where my partner, Joe, is fixing up an old cabin. At the last minute, we decided to drive to Lake Isabella because of supposed good visuals there. I was grumbling all the way there about how the location wouldn’t fit with my shot list, but when we got there and I started dancing on rocks, we just threw away the shot list and made it up as we went along. The editing was fun because I’m teaching myself Premiere Pro (thanks YouTube tutorials) and I got to throw every hilarious video effect at it. We were also heavily influenced by Laraaji’s videos, obviously.”
Listen to “Body Memory” above.
Distance is out 7/24 via Loantaka Records. Pre-order it here.