“Freak Show” Jordana with Dev Lemons

On her new EP, I'm Doing Well, Thanks For Asking, Jordana is getting to know herself again. Or more accurately: getting to know her selves.

It's fair to say the 22-year-old New York songwriter has shifted shape a few times in her short career. She got her start with homespun indie folk on Classical Notions of Happiness before jumping to the spindly bedroom pop of Something To Say To You. A year later, she was veering into the dreamy haze of her TV Girl collaboration Summer's Over, before eventually giving way to the hi-gloss pop of Face The Wall. It's the kind of omnivorous output the phrase something for everyone was invented for.

Along the way she's managed to make fans of Wallows, Local Natives & Remi Wolf, who've each taken her on the road in 2022, landing her in front of crowds that number in the thousands. In many ways, the magic carpet ride of touring that opened up post-pandemic hasn't allowed Jordana the time to fully change forms again. Instead she's synthesized a little bit of everything that came before on this new six song short-player. And while the overall sound pulls from each of her past releases, the songs themselves remain obsessed with love and neuroses, being left and leaving, pitying yourself and learning to stop.

"SYT," the EP's lead single, is a soaring kiss-off from a jilted lover. "It channels the feelings of empowerment and emotional awareness after a tough breakup," says Jordana. It wouldn't sound out of place on Face The Wall, and certainly borrows from her most recent album's logline advice of overcoming hardships.

Elsewhere, on "You're In The Way," Jordana reaches back to the leathery indie pop of Something To Say To You's "Reason" & "I Guess This Is Life." It's a song built around a simple drum loop, guitar strums and Jordana's voice. "It's about getting to know yourself again after seemingly wasting time investing in someone else," says Jordana.

Then, of course, there's "Careless Mistake," which updates the hushed folk of Classical Notions, increasing the fidelity and trading in her uke for a piano and a spotlight. It sounds like a song from some future collection of ballads. Which shouldn't be surprising, the ever shape-shifting Jordana, already aware of some new form still yet to emerge.

Pennsylvania-born singer songwriter Dev Lemons straddles the line between R&B songstress and emo rocker, writing deeply personal bedroom pop songs designed to replicate a late night heart-to-heart chat with a close friend. 

Whether it’s touching on abandonment issues, toxic relationships, the fear of going to the dentist, or even tactics to deal with pampered nepotism babies, Lemons’ relatable music is about overcoming your demons and replacing them with the insulation of unhinged fun. 

A student of bands like Paramore, My Chemical Romance, and Bring Me The Horizon, Lemons shares a similar honesty in her songwriting and an innate ability to transform personal pain into galvanizing hooks ready to be chanted back by a crowd of fellow outsiders. Or, as she more succinctly puts it: “My music is about finding beauty amidst all of life’s chaos. By the end of a Dev Lemons song, you will feel somewhere in the middle of motion sickness, ecstasy, and maybe even a little itchy. Trust me!”