Stream Austin folk singer Jana Horn’s gorgeous debut album ‘Optimism’

Gaia Writer

Austin singer/songwriter Jana Horn stirred up a little buzz back in 2015 with the debut album by her band Reservations, but they're now defunct and Jana has just released her debut solo album, Optimism, on No Quarter Records. Speaking about the album, Jana says:

[It] seemed to come about indirectly, almost in passing, a feeling of being in-between things... I had just discovered, late, Raymond Carver Broadcast, Sibylle Baier (which “Tonight” is more or less dedicated to), Annette Peacock, Richard & Linda Thompson, a short story called “Car Crash While Hitchhiking” by Denis Johnson. I had “Heart Needs a Home” in mind, “The Great Valerio;” I was just really moving through the world, hanging in the shadows of the people I wanted to be. Hoping, looking out, this is Optimism. I was looking for anything.

You can definitely hear the influence of Sibylle Baier (and '60s Leonard Cohen and a few other things from that era) coming through in Jana's intimate, timeless, old-soul folk songs, and if you tend to be in that kind of thing, you'll probably find that Optimism really scratches the itch. (And for a more modern comparison, fans of stuff like Jessica Pratt and early Angel Olsen should give this a listen.) It's a gorgeous, bare-bones album, and you can stream it below.