Jackie Marchal, CC '22, Releases Debut EP, 'Juniper'

Upper West Side NY

22 October, 2021

11:37 AM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY NOAH BULLWINKLE AND AVA ROBERTS OCTOBER 22, 2021 Nature connotes inspiration for singer-songwriter Jackie Marchal, CC '22. A field of rhubarb becomes a song. The California wildfires become a metaphor for family troubles. On Oct. 22, the alternative rock artist released "Juniper," her debut EP, which explores these nature themes and more. Marchal, who also sings alto for Nonsequitur, an a cappella group at Columbia, was tapped to open the 100 Gecs and Gucci Mane concert at Bacchanal before the show was canceled due to COVID-19. She has also released a handful of singles since 2018 under her stage name "Wander Marchal." This year, she already released one single, unaffiliated with "Juniper," under her full name. By returning to her real name for this EP, Marchal believes she can reclaim more control over her image and become truer to herself. "Wander Marchal is sort of just a relic or artifact of some earlier music projects I worked on," she said. "[Jackie Marchal] definitely signifies ownership and just being myself." On "Juniper," Marchal brings listeners into her personal journey of grief, growth, and self-acceptance. The EP begins with "Open Wide," a moody track that details Marchal's struggle to be herself with her partner. The guitar and strings that make up the core of the song allow Marchal's contralto to soar. "Would you reach inside / Pull me through the painful tides? / If I open wide," she sings. The creation of "Juniper" involved a number of firsts. Along with being the first track in Marchal's first project, "Open Wide" was also the first song Marchal made a music video for. The video shows Marchal driving back and forth near beautiful flower fields but also depicts her life in the city, demonstrating the sense of transition the music conveys about her willingness to open up to a partner. Next up on the EP is "Mother," written to combat her heartache and grief when her mother fell ill and wildfires raged through Los Angeles, where Marchal was living at the time. The title has two meanings, tied to both Marchal's own mother and Mother Earth. At first, the song's instrumentation is wandering and directionless, a clamour of ambient noise. But right as Marchal's voice trails off, the beat drops forcefully. The tempo of the song speeds up, a synth-based bass line kicks in, and Marchal sings, "Mother, have you fallen? / Wildfire under her skin." The instrumentation builds up into a crescendo of sound, and Marchal wails the chorus' refrain repeatedly, "Mother, have you fallen?" Marchal says that she and John Velasquez, the co-producer for "Juniper," wanted the production at the end of the song to portray a sense of closure. "[In the ending] there's a real sense of arrival," Marchal said. "We were imagining the gates of heaven opening [to] an epic dance party." "Rhubarb Fields," the concluding song on the EP, describes the rhubarb patch outside Marchal's grandparents' Rhode Island home, where she lived during a portion of the pandemic. While shooting the music video for "Rhubarb Fields," Marchal stumbled upon an old friend from her high school photography class. With Marchal's mom's old camera, that friend ended up shooting the album artwork for "Rhubarb Fields." This convergence of Marchal's past and present—old friends, resilient rhubarb patches, and new music—exemplifies the resilience and perseverance that have emerged from her bereavement. "Everyone has a different story about [the patch], but it's definitely been around for a very long time," Marchal said. "But I think the most miraculous thing about it is just that every year it would come up." "Juniper" poses as a powerful medium for the self-preservation of Marchal's relationship with nature, her family, and her own growth while living through a pandemic and the climate crisis. "Singing about things that were so challenging to live through [makes you feel] like you've arrived somewhere," Marchal said. Staff writer Ava Roberts can be contacted at [email protected]. Staff writer Noah Bullwinkle can be contacted at [email protected] Follow Spectator on Twitter @ColumbiaSpec. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.