Album Review: Jada Di’Larosa – To Love Is To Perform

To Love Is To Perform is a throwback to times long past, even if their memories live on, and will help you make memories of your own.

Jada Di’Larosa conceived of the album in the small hours of the morning, during a time in her life when she was working as a dancer in the Bourbon Street area of New Orleans. And it’s possible that being in that particular place and time frame has led to the sound and emotion of the album.

As soon as you hear Show Girl, you feel like you are sitting in a smoky bar at four in the morning, one of the last patrons, listening to the juke box as the bar gets ready to close. You may be there as a means to escape daily life, and for the protagonist of the song, Las Vegas plays a similar role. It’s possible that the romance at the centre of the song is real, though it feels like the synopsis of a forgotten Tennessee Williams play; the almost unbearable sadness leaves you unsure of your own feelings.

The concept of the songs being an act, as if watching a play, is an important element of the album: Di’Larosa says, “Each song is written with the theme of performance and how love often feels like putting on an act, even when I’m off-stage.”

Another song, another scene: Movie Star delves into trip-hop while keeping that ’30s jazz/blues flowing in the vocals and brass. There may be glamour, but the vocals also let you know that might not even be skin-deep, thanks to the magic of Tinseltown.

The song titles may be descriptive, such as Bayou St. John, a beautiful ballad that is like a love that leaves with the bird song and as the sun rises, or evoke thoughts of theatre and show life, as on Curtain Call and Costume, using those images and classic images from 30s to 50s show tunes to guide the listener through emotional turmoil delivered in a wavering, Lana Del Rey style vocal. On Costume, the arrangement is a lusher affair, one reminiscent of the days of Nelson Riddle and Billie Holiday, which, I suspect, is exactly where Jada Di’Larosa wants you to imagine yourself.

The title track lets you hear what makes Di’Larosa tick: a stripped-down intro and vocals that sound like they are being broadcast from the past into your home via an old-fashioned radio. It’s the story of the blues, one that is always present on the album, here allowed to express itself in a direct, heart-breaking style.

The artist has revealed that they approached the album as if the songs were “almost like lost demos, dusted off inside of a trunk found in the attic,” and on that score, they certainly succeed – you are lulled into a reflective mood, as if you were listening to family heirloom 78s from long-forgotten artists from a bygone age.

To Love Is To Perform was released on the 17th of April and can be streamed on Spotify and SoundCloud – head to Jada Di’Larosa’s Instagram to discover more about the person behind this sophisticated, sensual series of songs. The albums is also available on Bandcamp.