Calendar Year, the new album from Chicago-based psychedelic folk songwriter and musician Jessica Risker, evokes a timeless, dreamy vibe that sounds like it could have come from this year or maybe even 1972. The songs are impeccable, but the arrangements have an indefinable quality that is both comforting and mysterious. Coming off a seven-year hiatus from her debut album (I See You Among the Stars, which followed her stint from 2011 to 2018 when she made albums under the moniker Deadbeat), Risker released the new album from songs she wrote in 2020. However, she hesitates to call it a “pandemic record”.
“I think of it more as a snapshot of a year in a life,” explains Risker, “With themes of human connection, motherhood, the beauty of our world, juxtaposed with some of our more problematic human tendencies.” Her admitted influences on the record – Syd Barrett, Jessica Pratt, Broadcast, and Nick Drake – are evident from the very beginning, although she is adept at putting her stamp on the music.
The gentle acoustic guitar and bass that introduce the first track, “Camera Obscura”, are lilting and comforting but also contain strains of organic psychedelia. Maria Jacobson’s flute, a prominent feature in the track, puts the song in its gentle, folk-tinged space. Things get even more spacey with the waltz tempo of “4 AM”, but it’s not all trippy ambience. Risker’s songwriting is beautiful, mature, and striking on its own. These songs would sound terrific with just vocals and acoustic guitar, but the full-band aesthetic gives the recordings even more gravitas.
While Risker revels in shimmering dreampop on tracks like “Twirl, Planet Twirl” and “For Huck, This Afternoon”, there’s a quiet urgency to “City Hours,” and “RHOJP (Real Housewife of Jefferson Park)” gives something of a contemporary lyrical theme to a relatively sparsely executed, acoustic guitar-centered arrangement. In short, Risker doesn’t feel the need to stick to a specific genre, but still manages to craft a sound that is ultimately all hers.
Jessica Risker shares something of a kinship with fellow contemporary songwriters like Hannah Frances and Flora Hibberd, artists whose unique approach to the arrangements and performances helps not only nail down the perfect sound but also uplift the compositions in the process. Calendar Year is so good that it’s worth the seven-year wait. Let’s hope her next one comes out way before 2032.