There’s a generation of us that all have the same sparkling nostalgia when they hear the year 2013. It was a simpler time when Rookie Mag was on everyone’s bookshelf and Bethany Constantino ruled the world. The younger versions of ourselves would find the romance in everything, despite all the bitterness and sting of youth and love. Janelane, longtime Los Angeles act, captures that feeling perfectly with their new single, “Goodbye to Heartache.”
“Goodbye to Heartache” is a fresh pop tune with lyrics that bite. Sophie Negrini, Janelane’s frontwoman, finds herself on the bridge from a broken heart to acceptance: “Try my best to say / Goodbye to heartache / Telling myself I’m okay with dancing alone.” The sing-songy verses over a kitschy keyboard are adjacent to jangle pop of the 60’s, with twangy licks and dreamy “Aaaa’s” in the background. Negrini holds a mirror to our secret attempts at self assurance: “If only I could play it cool / And brush you off, pass you by / Quell the echoes ringing from my hollowness / Deep inside…”
The single is a ways away from the pop-punk track “Celebrity Crush” and the earnest “Flowers from Athens.” Negrini shows the myriad of ways that lovesickness can render itself, and the ways we can try to heal it. Janelane has a talent of emulating a timeless feeling of youth, leaving us to daydream to their beat. Negrini’s wistful songwriting and singing is reminiscent of Alvvays’ Molly Rankin, with a Kate Nash-coolness and edge.
Janelane is the brainchild of Sophie Negrini, former touring guitarist for Peach Kelli Pop. Since its inception from 2013, Janelane has put out a three-track EP Peaches and Cream via Danger Collective Records, along with recent singles “Celebrity Crush” and “14 Days,” been named one of the “10 L.A. Artists to Watch in 2017” by LA Weekly, and toured all around Los Angeles.
Listen to “Goodbye to Heartache” below:
