Plum, the new project of Julia Why? guitarist, Caleb Jacobs, has delivered a succinct lesson in dream-pop songwriting on latest single, Dead Leg.
From washed out, reverb-heavy vocals to fuzzy, intricate synth lines, Jacobs has nailed some of the core elements of an absolutely perfect, imagine-yourself-at-the-beach-when-listening dream pop tune.
Plum – aka Caleb Jacobs – layers ear-catching instrumentation with wonderful harmonies on dreamy new single Dead Leg; a testament to his unwavering musical ingenuity.
On his triple J Unearthed page Jacobs has listed bands like Sonic Youth and New Order as influences and, at first listen anyway, that seems like a bit of a stretch. It’s only after successive listens – and I will go as far as to bet you my mint condish Rumours record (how good is Fleetwood Mac?) – that the depth and intricacy of these influences really begin to unfold.
Where Jacobs completely exceeds expectations and his genre peers is in his ability to blend these various influences in his songs.
The Sydney-sider, straying away from his other band’s guitar-heavy sound, released his debut EP, Black Doris, last year to well-deserved acclaim. After garnering attention locally, including from many of the folks over at triple J, as well as overseas, Jacobs has managed to step his game up exponentially with his latest release.
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Where previous much-loved tracks like Pavement and TinyFeet sounded like a foray into electronic pop music, the dark chord progressions and tripping beats of Dead Leg sound even more complete; like an artist who’s found their feet and is delivering the goods. He’s gone from the quality you’d expect from a bedroom side-project to a sound that is just waiting to be uncovered by the masses in a very short space of time.
Make sure you get all over Plum now, because there’s no doubt this project will explode in no time at all, and you’ll want to be the person that discovered Jacobs early on. Is there anything better?
