ALBUM REVIEW: Gardening

Siv Jakobsen - Gardening

Unafraid to get her hands dirty, Norwegian singer-songwriter Siv Jakobsen unearths her past and weeds out her pain on her new record, Gardening. Drawing inspiration from her green thumb, the Oslo-based songstress tends to her emotional nursery.

“Pulled on by an invisible string / Tied around my throat and gnawing at my skin / Now I can't even sing anymore / I've closed that door, you win,” she mutters on the opening track “Small.” With finger-picked and layered guitar instrumentals, Jakobsengrounds herself through vulnerable introspection. The opening track unearths a reckoning with her heartache and is accompanied by soft strings and birds chirping. 

While Jakobsen’s prior work has thrived in the folk genre, Gardening boasts a palette of sound that elevates the traditional folk style into an earthy and intimate record. Her warm guitar and piano is the grounding element, and Gardening’s warm horns, enchanting woodwinds, and bird chirps spellbind the listener. 

Track 2, “Romaine’s Place” emotionally unpacks a toxic ex haunting a former lover. 

“I was never your girl, I was stuck between / Your mind and your thigh, hiding,” she mumbles, as light fingerpicking and ethereal synths accompany her sullen delivery. With triumphant horns complementing her dark and straightforward lyricism, Jakobsen thrives from the contrast she fosters. 

Once again thriving from contrasting lyrical elements, “Tangerine,” also shows a different side of Jakobsen - one that yearns for intimate affection. While continuing to dabble in darker themes Jakobsen sings, “Like disease, I bleed / When you put your hands around my body” as she yearns to be seen as worthy to someone. 

Gardening captures the endless cycle of tending to ourselves - creating a sonic portrait of the highs and lows of never-ending  growth. To put it in Jakobsen’s words, “it resides in the deep of your mind / The shit you survived.” 

  
- DJ MENSA

Recommended If You Like: Katy Kirby, Julia Jacklin, Hand Habits, Vashti Bunyan 
Recommended Tracks:
“Tangerine”
“Romaine’s Place”
“Sun, Moon, Stars,” “Small”
FCC: Explicit - Track 1 “Small,” Track 5 “Bad Design”