Neu Get To Know… Jordan Patterson
Impossible-to-pinpoint yet strangely poignant songwriting.
Hello and welcome back to DIY’s introducing feature, Get To Know… which aims to get you a little bit closer to the buzziest acts that have been catching our eye as of late, and working out what makes them tick.
Much has been made of the recent alt-folk resurgence, but few of its number possess voices as immediately arresting as North Carolina-born, California-based songwriter Jordan Patterson. Landing somewhere between Fiona Apple, Regina Spektor, and Björk, the new Secretly Canadian signee trades in undulating melodies, unvarnished acoustic warmth, and transformative vocal acrobatics that together make for a beautifully off-kilter listen. Her 2025 project ‘The Hermit’ has already won her fans in the likes of Cameron Winter and Folk Bitch Trio, and this month’s ‘Songs From A Valley Girl’ EP is on course to be a leftfield highlight of the year. Don’t let its title fool you, either - a stock character, she ain’t.
Ahead of the EP’s arrival, we get to know Jordan that little bit better…
If Jordan Patterson was a TV ad, what would your tagline be?
It needs salt.
You were born in North Carolina, and are now based in California; musically, how do the two compare? Were there a good supply of venues in your hometown, or was your early music education more rooted in record collections than live shows? Give us an insight into your musical journey from one state to another.
My mother is a singer as well and is a huge Prince, Stevie Wonder, and Earth Wind and Fire fan. She did some touring with similar acts when she was my age up and down the East coast. I grew up listening to Aretha, Roberta, Etta - really powerful voices - and melodically dense and soulful music, and that really was (and is) my bedrock. I fell in love with radio and pop, then I started going to a lot of house shows in the valley and throughout LA, and I really have to credit my friends for showing me so much music growing up. Although, in high school I started to find that the new music I was listening to was so influenced by the music I grew up listening to, regardless of genre. It was inspiring and encouraging seeing how cyclical ideas are, like we are all a part of this sparkling ecosystem. I was ready to hop in.
Your debut album ‘The Hermit’ came out just last year, but you’re already back with a new EP - for you, do these five tracks bridge the gap between ‘The Hermit’ and your next longer project? Do they inhabit a world entirely their own?
‘SFAVG’ is a total bridge. The next project I’m working on sort of obscures the ideas of desire, longing, and shame presented in the EP. The EP has a lightness that was so exciting to explore; I wasn’t taking myself so seriously. ‘The Hermit’ was, in a lot of ways, an exercise - everything seemed possible and I put my finger in every pie. I was approaching this next batch of music in a way of getting clearer and more concise. I think they are like planets orbiting next to each other, each one getting closer to the sun.
“Songwriting has always been a conduit for me to express the things that I sometimes wouldn’t dare to say, but sometimes I thought this music might be an overshare.”
Of ‘Songs From A Valley Girl’, you’ve noted that “all of these songs hurt”. Do you think going through pain or hardship is an inherent part of the artistic process, or was that experience specific to this project? Should, to paraphrase the famous saying, people have to suffer for their art?
When I say that these songs hurt, I mean that they were deeply embarrassing for me to share. Songwriting has always been a conduit for me to express the things that I sometimes wouldn’t dare to say, but sometimes I thought this music might be an overshare or maybe not obscured enough to qualify as interesting or as art. I think I felt this way because these songs are actually quite simple, so I leaned into that.
Notions of place and location obviously figure quite largely in the EP - what does the idea of ‘home’ mean to you? Is it a place? People? Or something more intangible?
Home has always been a place that I feel safe in, or a person I feel safe with. The place and the person have been in rotation so much in my life; I moved around a lot, so most of the time it wasn’t a place, it was just my mom or a friend. Home is non linear and ever-changing. I seldom had a room so LA as a whole became my home, the sidewalk and diners included.
What’s your ultimate festival season song?
‘Ladies Night’ by Kool and the Gang, or all of ‘Ctrl’ by SZA. Sorry.
Finally, DIY is coming round for dinner - what are you making?
Cottage pie with extra corn, a fresh salad, and nectarine crumble with vanilla ice cream for dessert.
‘Songs From A Valley Girl’ is out tomorrow (19th June) via Secretly Canadian.
Records, etc at
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