EP Review: Spacey Jane – In the Slight
In the Slight means a lot to me. These five tracks haven’t really left my rotation since I first discovered the band in the throes of 2020’s lockdown, and over time, each song has had its turn of being the most important to me.
Balmy is the most wrenching Spacey Jane song, written about the depression of isolation, from loved ones and from community— it takes place in Greenough, a town 400kms away from Perth, a long drive that SJ would endure to play their first proper gigs. I don’t really know how to explain my emotions for this track, except for when I saw the the band in Wollongong in 2023, and they played this— a live rarity— I was utterly inconsolable, spitting the lyrics completely out of order due to my disbelief. One of those concert memories I will forever cherish.
Frontman Caleb Harper mourns the loss of a love in Sawteeth, a song that has thankfully endured the test of time on their set lists. In this scene, Harper could either “drink away the moon/ Instead I'll open up the wound,” and sings of his broken state and visions of time spent with this partner. The imagery here is gorgeous: “It could be the shade of leaves on trees, or it can be the sun that scars your knees.” At the song’s core, the meaning of “people around me, they get sawteeth” is up for interpretation, but at its end, Harper reminds the listener to not get caught up in the metaphors: “For me, it's just a song to say how much you meant to me.”
Despite the melancholy, there’s still a lot of fun to be had on this EP. Opener Cold Feet contains one of my favourite one-liners: “My mind’s a playground of half-thought thoughts.” It has a jangly chorus and is made for festival singalongs. Keep a Clean Nose is a more rough-around-the-edges cut but it’s the best music here with layers of intense guitars and Amelia’s smooth backing vocals. It features one of my favourite SJ bridges: Harper spiralling, desperate for answers like, "What if my head stops getting blood to think? What if her hands stop holding mine?”
In the Slight helped Spacey Jane establish the sound they’d carry onto their debut and breakthrough album Sunlight. It’s a huge step up from the gritty garage rock on their first EP, No Way to Treat an Animal, from not just a songwriting, but musical standpoint. I hope to see this record receive more attention, because within five short tracks the band make an incredible impression.