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Photo: Brendon Berton

Jane Remover’s Census Designated is an album full of back-to-back indie noise rock odysseys. She embraces cinematic dichotomies, utilizing distorted instruments alongside soft vocals for an unmatchable emotional sound. 

Census Designated kicks off with an ominous introduction in “Cage Girl / Camgirl,” taking care to build the album’s tension within the soundscape like a blockbuster thriller. There’s even echoing hints of breathing and monstrous noises that lilt over a bass guitar progression as Jane Remover maintains restraint. She spends the first three minutes exploring the sole echo of the vocals over the spacious guitar parts. Feedback and lush synth layers start to filter in as the song ends, leading us into the following track, “Lips.” This track leans closer to a breakdown, inviting evocative chords and decorative glitches in the production to expand the emotional palette. At the song’s halfway point, listeners are rewarded with the full-fledged breakdown they’ve been awaiting. Distortion fills the track with a range of sounds and colors. 

“Fling” is a whirlwind of sound, whisking raw, organic instruments with filtered electronic elements to create an aching rock fusion. Jane Remover shows off her emotional depth in this track, using the dark fuzz of the instruments to create an ache that settles at the pit of the song’s stomach. The chorus melody embodies desperation as she sings, “I swear to God give me a reason to be out my mind.” Next, “Holding A Leech” kicks off with a cacophony of noises, a startling start to a somber song, capturing the emotions of the lyrics perfectly. Throughout the track, Jane Remover ponders her desolation and dependency on a partner, infusing love into the melodies while darkness spreads throughout the sound. 

Jazz meets metal in “Backseat Girl,” which fuses Jane Remover’s Deftones-type noise rock sound with softer drums and ornate chords. She coasts through cascading melodies, the vocals becoming more delicate as the arrangement builds in intensity. “Idling Somewhere” encapsulates the ambient rage that courses through the veins of Census Designated. Feedback, distortion, and orchestral electronic sounds merge to create a wall of static that is artfully full. This is the genius of Jane Remover: the ability to take sounds that separately exist as white noise but intertwine them together and create something symphonic. Another track that does this is “Video,” which starts with a full minute of instrumental white noise before dropping into a ballad-esque verse. This juxtaposition of the heavy metal determination and the grace of Jane Remover’s voice captures the beauty of this album’s range. 

“Always Have Always Will” is a crushing lyrical masterpiece, oozing desperation. “Drunk like a pop star, gun in my pocket / You asked if I wanted to die / and God throws me onto the ground like dice,” she sings. Album title track, “Census Designated,” picks the volume back up. The melodic rhythm of the chorus especially stands out, pop-leaning in its delivery while the track embraces guitar feedback as an instrumental component. The album closes with “Contingency Song,” a track that captures the full scope of Jane Remover’s artistry and perfectly encapsulates the softest delicacies and most flush-with-emotion highs of Census Designated.

Listen to Census Designated below: