New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Jessye DeSilva shares "Firecracker," the latest single from their new album Renovations, which releases July 14. Featuring
Aaron Lee Tasjan on electric guitar, the song celebrates a deep capacity for empathy and sensitivity as DeSilva finds power in vulnerability.
"'Firecracker' is an anthem for little queer baby me," says DeSilva (they/them). "The one who snuck into their mother's closet to walk around in her shoes and smeared themself in her lipstick. The one who is 'too sensitive' and 'too flighty.' The fucking superhero." They continue, "I may be a flower, and I may be delicate, but I've got thorns. I've been working a lot on healing my relationship with my childhood self. Once in therapy, I was asked to imagine my childhood self sitting next to me on the couch, and to imagine how they might see me or what they would think of me. Needless to say, this broke me in the moment, but when I was able to gather my thoughts, I realized how fucking PROUD they would be."
Queer and trans empowerment are at the very heart of Renovations, with instrumentals from fellow LGBTQIA+ musicians including Tasjan, Jake Blount,
Ellen Angelico and more. This is the album Jessye DeSilva wishes they had in their youth, as a non-binary, trans person who grew up the child of a preacher. Exploring themes of privilege and marginalization, identity and trauma, and reconciling self-image with public perception, Renovations will be relatable to young queer people, yet with moments of both deep resignation and revitalizing triumph it remains universally impactful.
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Firecracker" follows DeSilva's two previous singles, the piano-pop Pride anthem "Dysphoria" and the powerful debut track "Proud & Lonely," which was featured as one of Rolling Stone's Songs You Need To Know. Earlier this month, DeSilva was announced as an official showcasing artist at the 2023 Americana
Music Festival & Conference, and they recently shared live performances of both singles.
A classically trained vocalist and a voice teacher at Berklee College of Music, Jessye DeSilva has a knack for blending theatrical pop elements with the traditions of folk music. Renovations follows their '70s-rock-influenced 2022 release Landscapes, which earned them a nomination for Americana Artist of the Year at the 2022
Boston Music Awards and garnered widespread acclaim. No Depression declared "Comparisons to
Elton John and
Brandi Carlile are easy — DeSilva clearly takes a page from these idols, anchoring their songs in pop melody juggernauts, gauzy textures, and vocal bravado," and American Songwriter said their "catalog doesn't skimp on razor-sharp lyrics, paired frequently with an almost ethereal vocal." They were also named a 2023 Artist To Watch by Nashville Scene, who said "DeSilva could inject new life into a genre that could definitely use a little more pretzel logic."
Renovations Tracklist
1. Dysphoria
2. Easier To Run
3. Proud & Lonely
4. Sundays
5. Let It Burn
6. Fall From Grace
7. Renovations
8. What I Know Is True
9. This Year
10. Firecracker
11. Clouds
