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Writer's pictureAndrea Sanchez

The Wide-eye Album Debut of Jawny

Born Jacob Sullenger in the Bay Area, and raised in Philadelphia, JAWNY has built his career by intuition, letting his music evolve naturally as he grows personally. In the past couple of years, he has increased his popularity realizing singles like Honeypie which landed on a number of tastemaker playlists and garnered millions of streams. Alongside EPs like For Abby and The Story of Hugo, which further showcased his sharp storytelling and sonic experimentation. JAWNY presents to us his album debut Its Never Fair, Always True showing us a more mature version of himself.


The album opens up with “intro” with a sweet piano melody and the lyrics “Never fair, it's always true/ I know that I'm in love with you/ It's always, it's always” we can picture what the themes of the album will be. This flows directly into “strawberry chainsaw” which showcases the energetic drums and catchy electric guitar riffs that are present throughout the entire album.


Most of the lyrics talk about love, in “lalala” JAWNY talks about how we can fall head over heels for someone in an instant and think that they are the one, only to realize that we like the idea of the person we created in our head. While in “wide eyed” we talk about the carefree but deep love that you can have for someone.


The song “take it back” features GRAMMY-winning legend Beck, who contributes in vocals and guitar. In this track, we see a more rocker side of JAWNY. The production consists of heavy electric guitars, powerful drums, and electrifying vocals of both singers, that make you bop your head along the rhythm of the song.


There are songs that take a deeper turn, and reflect on life. “death is a dj” with lyrics like “I'm not saying I'm not struggling with coming to terms/ With the fact that all of us are here to walk on the earth/ To check off a list and not die alone” and the chorus “And now I'm dancing with someone I don't know/ Where death is a DJ at a party/ Spin me round like I'm a barbie/ And I can't even run from it, it's obvious/ That I'm not ready for the song to end”. The production plays with the rhythm of the song, starting at a heavier tempo to slowly pick it up making it faster, but the rhythm in the drums is constant throughout the song.


The album closes with “selfish hate” which is 7:47 minutes of a rollercoaster of emotions. The tension builds up and increases with the drums, meanwhile, JAWNY´s vocals express all of the desperation that the lyrics have. The outro is a sweet piano melody, which creates a contrast with the previous melodies.


This album is one that you can put on and dance around carefree, but also it can help you reflect on how complicated and tricky living is. At the end of the day, everything can be a bit messy and confusing but everything will work out so it's better to dance the worries away.






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