by Chad Rafferty (@chadrafferty)
Growing up in a place like New Hampshire, which is to say somewhere small, cold, rural, and often overlooked, you tend to find yourself often in art born there. Maybe this is true for anyone growing up anywhere, yet as a true swing state of interests, aesthetic and affiliation, New Hampshire feels particularly positioned as the sort of place that’ll seep into its inhabitants' expression. It’s beautiful, strange, flawed, and quiet — the perfect place to spend a little too much time inside your own head.
On Not Close For Comfort, the debut EP from Dover, NH-based singer-songwriter Jordan Holtz (Rick Rude), this sort of mood is abundant. None of this is to say that Holtz necessarily set out to make a record that sounds like New Hampshire, and whether or not she consciously did is beside the point. Regardless of intent, she’s made one that’s likely to stick with you, no matter where you’re from. It’s a record filled with cutting images, big questions and indistinct musings, all bent on occupying space at the same time.
On opening track “When I’m Around,” Holtz introduces the record with delicate power, letting her electric bass steer the ship while she establishes a lyrical presence that’ll carry throughout: “I’ll tell you one thing / that I’m worth something / when I’m around”. Next is “Blinders,” which takes a darker turn melodically while Holtz zeroes in on isolation, a theme that lingers for the duration of the album.
A clear standout is “Sweaty at Palm Beach,” which finds Holtz reflecting on the absurdity of human mating rituals, presumably from the comfort of a beach chair, taking note of “human beings who want to be paired / and be like their friends.” This eventually leads into one of the best moments of Not Close for Comfort, as Holtz thunderously wonders if she is “pre-programmed to settle down / to pick a sin / and cozy in.”
The penultimate track “Call It!” was originally released on Rick Rude’s Basement Tapes Vol. 1, a lockdown-era collection mostly recorded on cell phones. The production on the new version is a welcome improvement overall, evening the song out without tamping the authentic vulnerability in Holtz’s vocal. “Reasons” is a slow-burn closer with a somber yet hopeful tone, re-framing isolation as a choice rather than an affliction while piecing together the reasons we want for connection in the first place.
Overall, Not Close for Comfort serves as an impressive introduction to Holtz as a solo artist, and shows off a keen sense of melody alongside a deep well of thoughtfulness. You can get the record now on cassette or digitally via Pretty Purgatory.