Amanda Mack 
The best thing about getting around to reviewing Snail Mail‘s sophomore album, Valentine, a little later than most outlets was that I got guided help from Lindsey Jordan, who fronts the project, on the most effective way to listen to it. In a Facebook post, she suggested that people do so “in a room or cave lit only by an old oil lamp, emitting just enough light so that you may read the lyrics as you listen.”
I had every intention of trying to imitate those conditions as closely as possible at night in my bedroom with an LED color change lightbulb as my only light source, but I ended up reviewing it midday, in the most sun-painted room in my apartment. I still found it an appropriate listening space, not so much for the songs themselves (that lamp-lit, cavernous space would have been preferable), but for the version of Jordan that has seemingly pushed through to the other side of dejection this time as a loved-and-lost, uncynical young adult.
Valentine is committed to being wider and more textured than Lush, Snail Mail’s 2018 debut. That was immediately obvious upon the release of the first single, “Valentine,” showcasing a swelling, poppy hook and downtempo synths. In that space, there’s also room made for tracks like “c. et al.”, a stripped back, acoustic number that feels plucked into existence by Jordan in the tiniest nook of a touring van as well as “Forever (Sailing),” which is a full-on, Gen Z yacht rock jam if I’ve ever heard one.
But for every track, Jordan’s feelings jump directly off her sleeves in raspy and breathy confessions completely absent of the shades of detached sarcasm felt on some of the tracks on her debut. Perhaps she begins the record with some leftover insecurities that drove many of the sentiments on Lush, wondering if there’s something about her that makes her easy to forget, but by the last track, “Mia”, Jordan feels more determined to extract the growth from the heartache and consider that some things just run its course.
Valentine is out now through Matador Records.
Watch the video for “Ben Franklin” below:
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