Jura emerged earlier this year with the intriguing debut single “Same Late Age (dIcK bIfFeReNcE)”. She returns this week with the news that a debut album will be arriving some point this year via Danish label Anyines, and a new single called “Formality Jerne-Site”.
Once again, we find Jura working with a very 80s sound palette: pastel-hued and soft-edged synths cascade over splashy electronic drums and spatters of synth bass. This forms a caring and warming canvas for Jura’s tale, and “Formality Jerne-Site” is a duet with Helene Norup Due in which they unfold a story of three young trans people in Colorado: Jill, Frieden and Sunny. The song’s shapeless structure allows Jura to move through the interwoven narratives nimbly, dropping in poetic imagery like “a heart open to new humor / in an ill-gendered, polite teenager / the air shone like fire / against common, comic attempts on a night run.” With the momentum and tension subtly growing as “Formality Jerne-Site” progresses, you can hear how much love and affection Jura has for her subjects, as they face tough decisions but resolve to make their way together in the world. It’s really worth heading over to the Bandcamp to read the words in full.
You can listen to “Formality Jerne-Site” below or on streaming platforms.
You can find Jura on Instagram.
