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Julia Jacklin: Tiny Desk Concert

Julia Jacklin doesn't need much accompaniment: If you were to hear the Australian singer-songwriter's unadorned voice, say, echoing at the top of a stairwell, you'd most likely climb to where it leads without a second thought. Jacklin's full-length debut, last year's Don't Let The Kids Win, knows just when and how to lean in to this simplicity, surrounding her with spare instrumentation that keeps that voice in the center of the frame.

For her Tiny Desk debut, Jacklin reproduces three of that album's drowsily beautiful ballads with the aid of a backing band so restrained, you can read the effort to keep quiet on their faces. The result is a calm and careful mix of mystery and approachability, warm and cool at the same time.

Don't Let The Kids Win is available now. (iTunes) (Amazon)

Set List

  • "Don't Let The Kids Win"
  • "Lead Light"
  • "Pool Party"
  • Musicians

    Julia Jacklin (vocals, electric guitar); Eddie Boyd (vocals, electric guitar); Ben Whiteley (electric bass, vocals); Ian Kehoe (drums, vocals)


    Credits

    Producers: Bob Boilen, Niki Walker; Audio Engineer: Josh Rogosin; Videographers: Niki Walker, Morgan Noelle Smith; Production Assistant: Marissa Lorusso; Photo: Claire Harbage/NPR.

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    Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

    Stephen Thompson is a writer, editor and reviewer for NPR Music, where he speaks into any microphone that will have him and appears as a frequent panelist on All Songs Considered. Since 2010, Thompson has been a fixture on the NPR roundtable podcast Pop Culture Happy Hour, which he created and developed with NPR correspondent Linda Holmes. In 2008, he and Bob Boilen created the NPR Music video series Tiny Desk Concerts, in which musicians perform at Boilen's desk. (To be more specific, Thompson had the idea, which took seconds, while Boilen created the series, which took years. Thompson will insist upon equal billing until the day he dies.)