Snail Mail: back and sharp as ever on “Ricochet”

Lindsey Jordan, or Snail Mail to her faithful followers, burst onto the scene in a big way in the late 2010’s and early 2020’s with Lush (2018) and Valentine (2021), a back-to-back run of ace records that have since come to be regarded as stone-cold indie classics of that era, rightfully so. Cathartic, angsty, introspective, lo-fi, communal, sweeping and shimmering, emo, life-affirming…you name a direction, and Jordan went there and served it up in stellar spades. Of course, this precocious run of form led to both widespread acclaim as well as her style and sound being promptly jocked by countless emulators. Her status as an indie rock stalwart has only seemed to grow in the last five years, which makes Ricochet, such a welcome and invigorating return to form. It’s yet another feather in the cap of a truly one-off voice in indie rock.

The cover of Ricochet alone earns an immediate double-take; perhaps a nod to Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, the beloved 1990 debut from the Sundays? Ball knowers, take note and strap in. “Tractor Beam” gets things underway with a bright, in-your -face 90-s adjacent riff that channels the same forward propulsion that Wishy channelled earlier this year on Triple Seven. Instant earworm. “My Maker” seems to serve as somewhat of a modus operandi for Ricochet at large, with a skittering acoustic flow that glistens over Jordan’s swirling vocals as she grapples with the potential realities of transcendance and what you’ll encounter when you arrive there:  “I wanna fly a plane to heaven / Tarry at the airport bar / Probably couldn’t even get in / I know I’ve gone wrong, let’s restart”. The track pushes when you think it’s starting to pull and pulls when you think it’s pushing, which creates an exciting tension to backdrop Jordan’s ruminations on life and death.

“Dead End” shuffles in and reaches right for the stars: “Couldn’t ever be the same / To be loved is to be changed / I don’t need other people around / Nobody’s gonna get me down”. There are themes of transcendence throughout Ricochet, which imbue it with an undeniable cathartic nature, and the “na na na” sequence to close out this particular track will surely smash it in a live setting. It’s a nice touch that showcases Jordan’s unique ability to underline her often introspective songwriting with a sense of a communal feel as well. “Light On Our Feet” introduces a gentler sound, more of a proper ballad with swooping strings that echo the cinematic grandeur of Born To Die era Lana Del Rey, a record that, coincidentally perhaps, Jordan recently cited as her Pitchfork Perfect Ten. “Agony Freak” is perhaps the record’s downright moodiest track in both a sonic and a lyrical nature, as she grapples with desire or lack thereof to evolve and leave pain in the past.

If “here’s to feeling good all the time” is an ethos, then “here’s to feeling all the time” seems to be Jordan’s throughout Ricochet. It’s the statement of a songwriter not scared to sit with it all and grapple with it all, big and small. It has every element that the devoted die-hards will love, and more than enough to keep the newcomers itching for more. It’s the sound of Jordan doing what she does best, and doing it with a confidence that five years away has only seemed to sharpen.

Cover image by Daria Kobayashi Ritch.