By Lucy Oster ’23
Staff Writer
Although you wouldn’t guess it based on the title alone, American singer-songwriter Snail Mail’s second album, “Valentine,” mostly covers love just as it begins to spoil. During the titular song, which is also the opening track on the album, Snail Mail, whose real name is Lindsey Jordan, sings, “So why’d you wanna erase me, darling valentine?”
Jordan has always sung about heartache. Her previous record, 2018’s “Lush,” features songs about unrequited love and rejection. Heartbreak is a common theme for many musicians, but both albums are masterworks of indie rock because of their ability to exhibit that experience in entirely new ways, sonically and lyrically.
“Valentine” has ten songs, making it a relatively short album, but it expands Jordan’s oeuvre exponentially. “Lush” highlighted Jordan’s angsty lyrics alongside relatively simple guitar, but the songs on “Valentine” elaborate on that. Some tracks on “Valentine,” such as “Headlock” and “c. et al.,” sound similar to “Lush,” but others go in different directions. “Ben Franklin” utilizes a hip-hop sound with synthy beats to a brilliant effect, while “Light Blue” takes a different approach, relying on a soft, lilting Phoebe Bridgers-esque sound. “Glory” has yet another distinct feel to it, sounding more like a 90s rock song, featuring the white noise of nonstop guitar. “Mia,” the last song on the album, has Jordan crooning to orchestral strings, reminiscent of children’s lullabies, slow and almost soothing in its sadness, with sonic elements similar to Lana Del Rey’s “Born to Die.”
Jordan’s lyricism has also grown exponentially since her last album. While she focused almost exclusively on complicated love with “Lush,” on “Valentine,” she has found new ways to write and sing about that topic. “Madonna” uses lyrics inspired by Catholicism. Jordan sings, “Body and blood, lover’s curse / Divine intervention was too much work / I don’t need absolution, it just hurts.”
In an interview with Stereogum, Jordan discussed how some songs on “Valentine” venture into an entirely new thematic territory. “[Light Blue is] actually the first Snail Mail song written that doesn’t have a bitter edge to it. There’s no betrayal or sadness or anger — it’s just a love song,” Jordan said.
The lyrics on Valentine are intensely personal, containing lyrics about religion and rehab. Jordan was raised Catholic, and she tackles that experience on “Glory” and “Madonna.”Speaking to Stereogum, Jordan stated, “I’m actually very fearful of being sacrilegious — that’s a big part of my Catholic upbringing … I don’t go to church or anything … I guess being a gay person makes you feel naturally separated from it.” On “Ben Franklin,” Jordan sings about another personal experience — her time spent in a rehab facility last year. “Post-rehab, I’ve been feeling so small / I miss your attention, I wish I could call,” Jordan sings.
Many of the songs on “Valentine” focus on love — and not just the butterfly feelings. Some songs, like “Headlock” and “Ben Franklin,” are about the period after a break-up. “Headlock” includes the lyric, “Man enough to see this through / Man, I’m nothing without you.” But most of the songs cover love in the post-honeymoon period and its myriad difficulties, such as “Forever (Sailing),” on which Jordan sings, “I love you from the city to the stars / But nothin’ stays as good as how it starts.”
Unlike the opinion of relationships expressed in “Forever (Sailing),” Jordan’s “Valentine” stays good throughout its entire 31-minute runtime. Jordan took what worked well on “Lush” and expanded it into something new and wondrous.