Jenny On Holiday - Quicksand Heart

At only 26, Jenny Hollingworth has already (incredibly) been making music for half her life. Having formed freak-pop project Let’s Eat Grandma with Rosa Walton as a young teen, the duo released their striking debut effort, ‘I Gemini’, aged just 16. Now, with three LEG albums under their joint belt (the most recent being 2022’s confronting ‘Two Ribbons’), the pair have taken that record’s crux - namely, the metamorphosis of their relationship from inseparable teenagers to independent adult entities - to its natural conclusion, each embarking on solo endeavours under new monikers.

Jenny On Holiday, then, sees her step sideways with a staunchly pop palette, leaving behind the quirkier corners of LEG’s fantastical realm to instead inhabit a markedly human world - one full of existential musings on life, love, and purpose, which find solace in familiar structures. If ‘Two Ribbons’ ‘Happy New Year’ spoke to a poignant sense of bittersweet acceptance, then this LP’s opener, ‘Good Intentions’, is something of a spiritual successor - a bright, open ode to putting your best foot forward, regardless of what’s come before. The title track and follow-up ‘Every Ounce Of Me’ continue in a similar vein, offering deliciously ‘80s synth stabs and expertly-executed dynamic shifts, all of which conspire to create choruses that burst into life like the best of Cyndi or Whitney’s karaoke classics. After this initial dopamine hit, though, the swaying balladry of ‘These Streets I Know’ and ‘Groundskeeping’ are lost somewhat; ‘Dolphins’ finds the sweet spot, its spacious, echoey expanse allowing room for Jenny’s ever-distinctive voice to unfurl and then dwindle, as if whipped away by a sea breeze. For some, the poise and polish of ‘Quicksand Heart’ may be cause for slight lament - the unabashed weirdness of Let’s Eat Grandma was central to their offbeat charm, after all. But as an exercise in self-actualisation, Jenny On Holiday’s solo debut is indeed a revitalising break - one that underscores the small joys of living and points to blue skies ahead.