by Dominic Acito (@mycamgrlromance)
Madison is Sloppy Jane’s second full length release, following 2018’s Willow. Sloppy Jane has been evolving for years and is the brainchild of singer/composer/opera star Haley Dahl, who created the group when she was fifteen. This latest release along with the previous album seem like companion pieces, but where Willow took an Iggy Pop influenced proto-punk style, Madison is more grandiose. Still the subject matter is similar: references to Jesus, police, and people close to death. The genre that Madison expressed as an album can be best described by their Bandcamp page as “schoolhouse prog”.
I was fortunate to be in attendance of the Sloppy Jane performance at Rough Trade in London in late 2021. This is a venue where many artists play their latest single along with a couple of highlight tracks. Sloppy Jane, however, went into a full performance. Audience members were entranced and captivated by the sheer gravity of Dahl’s charisma, but also watched with a measure of trepidation lest they could be caught by Dahl’s piercing gaze.
Haley Dahl has a penchant for myth-making. She took Sloppy Jane to The Lost World Caverns in West Virginia to record Madison. The cave brings with it a specific reverb as well as white noise. The sounds of trickling water can be heard during interludes when the music lulls before it once again swells.
That “Bat Boy,” the fictional half-boy-half-bat character from the now defunct paranormal tabloid Weekly World News calls this same place “home” somehow seems to make sense upon listening. Madison feels like the soundtrack to the most interesting musical that doesn’t exist. It tells a story that would find itself at home if outlined in the pages of a sci-fi tabloid or Twilight Zone production.
This isn’t an album with a hit single that can encapsulate the feel of the rest of the tracks. It’s a record that rewards multiple listens with moments that nearly compel you to sing along. Moments like the end of “Judy’s Bedroom” are the parts of Madison that you carry along well after your listen and upon recall, you are struck by the catchiness and imagination behind the lyrics.
Dahl has a distinct grit in her voice, which is on full display on the title track as well the nine minute long “The Constable,” a song which closes with voices in the distance counting down to the new year. It’s clear that Sloppy Jane are interested in traversing new ground.
There is very little that compares to Sloppy Jane. A band with the grit of Tom Waits, the grandiose scale of Bowie, a dash of the macabre storytelling of Nick Cave, and the familiarity of mother goose rhymes with incredibly catchy refrains that you will take with you after your first listen.