Jess Cornelius

Jess Cornelius writes arresting songs that capture the disorientation and endless possibilities of being in flux. On her sophomore album CARE/TAKING (Tender Loving Empire, 2024), the New Zealand-raised, Los Angeles-based artist sings of personal upheaval with striking lucidity and emotional nimbleness.
Where Cornelius’ 2020 debut Distance found her untethered moving across continents and entering a solo career after fronting Teeth & Tongue, this LP has the songwriter established in her California home but no less at a crossroads. Over 10 intricate and immediate songs, she grapples with squaring global crises and insecurities with the transformations and responsibilities in her life. It’s searching indie rock that’s as biting as it is comforting.
Cornelius released three critically acclaimed albums as Teeth & Tongue and received nominations for the Australian Music Prize and a J-Award. After relocating to Los Angeles, Cornelius released her 2020 album Distance, which garnered praise across the US, Australia, and the UK. Pitchfork called her “funny, self-effacing, and honest,” The Guardian praised the album’s “21st century amalgam of Karen Dalton’s folk and 70s jam band Americana,” and MOJO (UK) gave it 4/5, citing the album’s “gritty emotional territory that Cornelius surveys with her potent vocals.”

The lush arrangements on CARE/TAKING thread the needle between brooding and stunning, while her melodies careen into unexpected places with a keen sense of timelessness.