When Cassandra Jenkins released her An Overview On Phenomenal Nature in early February, it debuted during a time when there were a lot of unknowns in the world. Now, revisiting the work several months later, the singer is set to share a collection of alternative tracks and outtakes from the albums’ recording process. After previewing the project with tantalizing track “Hailey (pRemix),” Jenkins returns with the serene track “American Spirits.”
The new single is a swell of swirling soundcapes brought together by the low hum of Jenkins’ moving vocals. She sings of getting a call from an unknown number, which is actually a real story that she says inspired the emotion behind “American Spirits”:
“I woke up one morning with a voicemail from an unknown number while I was on tour in 2018. The area code was from the Texas border, and I had a sinking feeling my friend had gotten arrested on his way to come see us play in Joshua Tree. I’m fortunate to be close to someone who can speak so candidly about their incarceration, and how the prison system has continuously affected their life. When we spoke recently about the voicemail in this recording, I asked him what he was feeling in that moment. He said ‘I was really scared. So I called you, and I called a lawyer.’ I cherished this voicemail for years because, even in that difficult moment, I could hear a tenderness in his voice as he confessed, as well as avoided, reporting that he had spent the night in jail. What resulted is the poetic ambiguity that can arise from the struggle of searching for the words to tell someone we love exactly what has happened.”
Listen to Jenkins’ “American Spirits” above.
(An Overview On) An Overview on Phenomenal Nature is out 11/19 via Ba Da Bing Records. Pre-order it here.