\u201cWhen I try to describe my sound, I always say if Alice Coltrane and Sade did something together, you would get me,\u201d Garland said. \u201cThose are my two biggest musical influences for sure that are probably maybe obvious to some, but maybe not to others.\u201d<\/p>\n
A painful \u2018GLOW\u2019 up<\/p>\n
\u201cGLOW\u201d has other latent influences \u2014 Garland doesn\u2019t shy away from the fact that her personal life informed the music. A painful divorce and the themes of separation, heartbreak and isolation are all spun together as tiny fabrics of the album, with Garland\u2019s healing journey bursting at the seams to blanket the entire compilation.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAll of these songs came out of a divorce to be quite honest, and a separation. I really was just trying to survive,\u201d she said. \u201cI was just trying to heal myself and find things to do for me, and these are songs that I just created that were completely out of that moment. Even though it\u2019s been several years from that, there\u2019s still been a lot of growth and transformation. But it\u2019s still music that is transformative and still represents the person who I\u2019ve grown to be today, which is even much further than [where] I was the first time I put a single out.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
For anyone who has caught one of her live shows before, many of the songs may ring familiar, as she\u2019s performed tracks like \u201cGLOW\u201d or \u201cBrighter Side\u201d on various stages across North Texas. But with a new co-producer (Jonathan \u201cJayAnalog\u201d Thomas of Cure for Paranoia<\/a>) and an evolved look on life, the songs are never stagnant \u2014 they evolve alongside her artistry, verse by verse.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m obsessed with how it\u2019s the 2.0 version of \u2018GLOW\u2019\u2026 and it\u2019s technically the third iteration of it. The first one I never put out,\u201d Garland admitted. \u201cIt was really important for me to marry the sounds. \u2018GLOW\u2019 is the most transformative song on the album that gives a complete foundation to my message.\u201d<\/p>\n Over the title track\u2019s soft, mellow tune, the strings of the harp are lightly plucked as she sings, \u201cLeave the past, trust the path\/Nothing lasts, nothing lasts\/First I go, then I grow\/And then I glow.\u201d<\/p>\n Entering the ambient-soul genre<\/p>\n The album is an artful fusion of endless genres and influences, from the quiet storm R&B, to psychedelic ambient sounds, bluesy jazz and even neo-soul. A classically trained musician, Garland fluidly moves between the harp to the guitar to vocals, and then back to the harp, even lightly knocking on it from time to time for a deep rhythmic effect. And while the Grammy Recording Academy may label it as \u201cnew age\u201d or even \u201cambient soul,\u201d Garland prefers to be unbridled.<\/p>\n \u201cI would just say I\u2019m strictly an ambient artist,\u201d she said. \u201cIf you listen to a lot of ambient musicians, especially Black ones, you get a similar feeling and vibe to what you hear from me. I just try to be mindful that Black artists easily get put into the R&B category and my album is obviously not that. Do you hear influences? Yes. But also, genre is not real.\u201d<\/p>\n Rather than be bound by genre limitations, Garland says allows her strums to take her wherever she\u2019s feeling. <\/p>\n \u201cThese are terms that we use to market our music,\u201d she adds. \u201cWhen you take away all the production and how I perform most of these songs live, it\u2019s just me and a harp, or me and a guitar, and me singing with either instrument, you know? So I can appreciate that people can hear the soul in my music as well.\u201d<\/p>\n Welcoming new beginnings<\/p>\n \u201cGLOW\u201d may be the anthem, but edging the sultry, breathy melodies aside, the audience has spoken, and \u201cNew Beginnings\u201d seems to be listeners\u2019 standout. The streaming numbers never lie, and the album\u2019s opening track, featuring vocals by Kierra Gray Thomas (We Them Grays<\/a>), is a testament to the journey the album soon follows. A looped, ethereal dream of Garland\u2019s harp-meets-guitar fusion, laced with the croons of Gray, is what makes \u201cNew Beginnings\u201d a magnet for repetitive play.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2018New Beginnings gives a strong foundation to who I am as a sound artist and who I am as a composer,\u201d Garland said. \u201cIt\u2019s a big part of my sound in terms of the ambient sounds from the harp and a little of the psychedelic guitar going on there as well. There are also some unexpected sounds like knocking \u2014 it\u2019s me basically building a beat from actually knocking on the harp. And that\u2019s something I think people just won\u2019t expect.\u201d<\/p>\n Throughout the album, from tracks like \u201cI Tried (Live Again)\u201d and \u201cBetter\u201d to \u201cBrighter Sides,\u201d the listener rides the waves of transformation alongside Garland, bobbing up and through her lyrical realm of healing, all the while experiencing the true power of her multi-disciplinary artistry. At the end of the day, she leaves all matters within her music up to interpretation. Nothing less, and nothing more.<\/p>\n Defining Dallas\u2019 Black sound<\/p>\n Garland has been on the scene for decades, often witnessed accompanying other bands in Dallas. This is the first time the multi-hyphenate artist is doing things solo, and if you let her tell it, it feels so good. What\u2019s even more gratifying, is her contribution to what she dubs as a Black sound resonating deep from within the depths of Dallas.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s always astonishing to me when you hear things like \u2018Dallas has no culture\u2019 or people questioning \u2018what is the Dallas sound,\u2019 when Texas is one of the most awarded states for Grammy Awards,\u201d she said. \u201cThe Dallas sound is way more expansive than the box people want to put us in. We have ambient nights, we have experimental nights, and that is a big part of our sound. I think the funkiness, the jazziness of it all is a big part of how expansive Black sound can get in Dallas specifically.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Garland wants to be akin to it all, and \u2018GLOW\u2019 is but a mere love letter to the distinction of her Black sound, and the many artists who have paved the way to make space for it. While dream collaborations with Andre 3000 and Bj\u00f6rk hang in the balance, the SMU alum is utterly proud of this long-awaited project that is a testament to the woman she is today.<\/p>\n The future is bright<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Jess-Garland-1_ashley-gongora.jpeg\")
Jess Garland\u2019s debut record, \u201cGLOW,\u201d is inspired by divorce and the self-discovery that came after it. <\/p>\n