Snail Mail : Ricochet
On “Tractor Beam”, the opening track of Snail Mail’s Ricochet, Lindsey Jordan sings, “the future looks so bright, skyward on a tractor beam.” There’s a rush of strings that crescendo into the song’s chorus, rippling along with a jolt of optimism. But deep within its soul, the track reveals a desire to slip away and let go. Much of Jordan’s songs hold this quality—they appear to be about one irritation or frustration, but if you dig deeper you’ll find something even bigger beneath the surface.
Employing a lush, shoegazey approach to much of the songs on Ricochet, her follow-up to 2021’s Valentine, Jordan in turn presents her vocals at their dreamiest, especially on “Nowhere.” With a cheeky, twinkling guitar lick, Jordan sings “I’m going nowhere, you’ll never catch me” with some ethereal “la la las” tacked onto the end. It’s a vibrant expression of Jordan’s typical sound, typically heavy in its etudes of grunge and emo undertones, this time leaning into the more delicate instrumentals. There’s even a bit of folk influence, bringing to mind the sounds of Paula Cole and Aimee Mann. Much of Ricochet adds embellishments of warm strings, heightening the effect of Jordan’s lyrics, like on “Hell,” where they are nearly imperceptible but add a layer of melancholy.
The album is at its best on “Dead End”, a cathartic ride down memory lane as Jordan reflects on teen years where nights were spent parked at, like the title says, a dead end, hanging out with friends—the ones who have drifted apart, as time creates a sometimes painful space between us all. With a twangy guitar tone and booming percussion, the instrumentation highlights instead of overpowers Jordan’s haunting delivery of “tell me, can you even look me in my eyes?” Packed with a roaring, punk heavy breakdown in the bridge, the track melds the feeling of wanting to marinate in a moment forever, while also knowing moving on is unavoidable.
In a press release, Jordan cites Laura Gilpin’s poem “The Two-headed Calf” as a source of inspiration in the album. In the poem, Gilpin writes, “and as he stares into the sky, there are twice as many stars as usual.” With these songs, Jordan shares a sense of both fear and wonder looking up into the sky, its mysteries impossible to grasp. It’s this curiosity that has allowed this album to brim with honesty. Ricochet’s album cover does not feature Jordan’s face, like her last two albums did. Instead, there’s a deep, midnight-like blue background with a shell. Here, Jordan is choosing to look inward and move the attention to the relatability of the album’s themes—those of wonder, existentialism, anxiety, and the unrelenting passing of time. Jordan has crafted a collection of sentiments that almost anyone can latch onto, and see themselves within.
Label: Matador
Year: 2026
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Snail Mail : Ricochet
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