Cleveland-based one-person alternative pop artist Jade Ring is stunning the masses with their debut album drop – Pills – a record packing five experimental tracks into twenty-four minutes of organic gold.
It’s not often that we at Ark of Music find ourselves lost for words when describing an album, but Pills steps far beyond the musical territories known and recognizable to man. A cluster of stark influences shreds all expectations as sections of spoken word, choral song, brutal screams, and more “conventional” vocal styles steal the lyrics in turn.
An ever-evolving soundscape transmits a myriad of wild emotions: terror, serenity, and dance-worthy moods are captured in the first song alone. Rob Zombie vibes melt into EDM/pop themes; headbang-worthy riffs dissolve into chaotic industrialism, haunting choirs, smooth jazz, venomous guitar solos, Irish ditties, girl group energy, sprinkled with the odd cat meow – crafting a record that’s mind-meltingly manic, excitingly bold, and unlike anything we’ve come across before.
Listening to Pills is like stepping into the universe of a patchwork quilt, exploring a world of soft-hued rose gardens cut with dizzyingly bright chequered boards, with each step pushing you into the unknown and unexpected – completely abstracted from the moment before, yet masterfully stitched together.
As if their sonic ideas weren’t conceptual enough, this one-person musical project comes with an intriguing twist. Pills is fuelled by metaphors present not only in the music itself, but in Jade‘s chosen visual imagery. While bright, bold, and daring primary colours adorn their album art and stage designs, these aesthetics are merely a glossy sheen for the trauma hidden beneath. Ripping off the facade, we’re left with the painful reality of modern American life: “addiction, automation, loss of self and a negative view of the future,” as revealed in the artist’s own words.
With such a unique sound, this record will likely leave you wondering – “Where on Earth did Jade Ring draw their inspiration from?” It all circles back to that underlying theme of automation, specifically, the emerging AI hellscape within which musicians are finding themselves trapped.
Jade defines AI as an “American sickness,” telling us, “I am massively anti generative-AI. I’ve always been rooted in human artistry. AI just makes me sick. It gave me motivation to write this album. I wanted to prove I could make a great album all by myself, with no AI.”
And they absolutely nailed it – exploring the vast, emotional breadth of live instrumentation and analogue MIDI devices with a bravery that generative machines wouldn’t dare fathom. Just in case that wasn’t enough, Jade even tracked the voices of seven real-life singers to capture the choral sections of their album, keeping pure and old-school humanity at the very heart of Pills.
Jade Ring‘s anti-AI stance isn’t the only aspect separating them from the oversaturated genre. Jade is the definition of an artist, rebelling against the pick and mix nature of streaming music by designing an album that’s ideally absorbed in one, straight listening session from start to finish, akin to Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon.
Its chaos might not be for everyone, but in the face of copy-and-paste music, Pills is the debut album we’ve all been waiting for: a wild testament to fearless creativity which highlights how awfully mundane most music has become. Jade Ring is an outlier, a trend-setter, and a phoenix emerging from a world that’s been lulled to death by the same songs, sounds, and surface-level moods for decades.
Our verdict? Highly Recommended.
BELOW: Listen to Jade Ring and check out their music online. Please support Jade Ring by visiting their website and playing, downloading, and/or purchasing their music. And, as always, thank you for supporting real music.
Check out our interview with Jade Ring:
INTERVIEW: Jade Ring (CLICK HERE)
Follow, stream, download & connect with Jade Ring online:
Website · Instagram · YouTube · Bandcamp · iTunes
Listen to Pills by Jade Ring:
Watch the official music video by Jade Ring:
Check out Jade Ring‘s live show/tour schedule:
Opening for Polkadot Cadaver / Ventana Sunday May 25th – Foundry Concert Club / Cleveland, Ohio
Booking & contact information for Jade Ring:
Contact: Ghost Laboratories
Email: hello@ghostlabsrecords.com