Singer/songwriter Julia Jacklin crafts a seamless meld of dreamy indie pop and confessional alt-country that evokes names like Angel Olsen, Sharon Van Etten, and Caitlin Rose. Her first album, 2016's Don't Let the Kids Win, reached the Top 50 in her native Australia.

Born in Sydney, Jacklin was raised in a family of educators in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Upon discovering Britney Spears at the age of ten, and eventually Avril Lavigne and Evanescence in high school, Jacklin decided to shift her focus from a future in social work to a career in music. As her tastes changed, so did her songwriting style, and by her early twenties she was drawing from a much deeper well of artistic expression, citing artists like Fiona Apple, Anna Calvi, and Appalachian folk trio Mountain Man as inspirations. By day, Jacklin was working in a factory that made essential oils, and by evening, she was honing her skills on-stage and in the studio. A pair of singles, "Pool Party" and "Coming of Age," drew praise both at home and in the U.K., and in 2016 she released her debut full-length, Don't Let the Kids Win, via London-based indie label Transgressive in the U.K. and Polyvinyl in the U.S. The album reached number 42 in Australia and was followed by an extensive tour of Europe in 2017. In mid-2018, Polyvinyl released a self-titled album by Jacklin's more upbeat indie rock band Phantastic Ferniture, and that September, she opened shows for First Aid Kid in the U.S. In the meantime, Jacklin recorded her second album with producer Burke Reid (Courtney Barnett, Liam Finn), who was given a mandate to leave in natural sounds like breathing and instrument creaks. The resulting Crushing arrived in early 2019.

James Christopher Monger
AllMusic.com