Welcome to HeartSongs, our regularly scheduled (probably) look at songs and the people who write them. We spoke to Jeni Magana AKA Magana about her new single ‘Inches Apart’.

“I was definitely in a situation where I was trying to reconcile two different things that I really wanted. After I wrote it, several people came up to me and told me what it meant and how it comforted them. I don't really want to poison that by talking too much about myself and my silly problems.

I was sitting on the couch and feeling pretty melancholy and just sort of noodling around on guitar. I've done that a million times without ever keeping the guitar part; it's mostly a way to get out some stress.  But this one stuck around because I got a melody stuck in my head for it really quickly. I wasn't purposefully thinking of any influences or trying to write a song about a certain subject at the time.

I'm not really good at saying wise things, so instead I'm just going to talk about the cool people that did the music video. Lauren Finerman (who is the director) pulled together a crew of people that were super passionate about their work and it was very cool to watch them tackle their own jobs with the same type of excitement I had while recording the song. She and cinematographer Ben Lunden had this incredible energy throughout the entire day. They never sat down. They didn't even eat. They just paced around debating angles and time and other stuff I didn't understand. The two dancers Nick and Lindsey had the most positive attitude even through the last hours. And the choreographer Liz was there all day with them and brought such a good energy.  

All of the people that worked on this video were so incredibly kind and hard-working.  Are all video crews this chill? Or was it just because I was in California? I have no idea, but it was a really neat experience and I feel like I should be talking about them all the time. I did have a little bit of input into the storyline that was ultimately presented, but mostly I tried to stay out of the way. I already put my creation out there, and I wanted someone else to have a chance to play around with it and make something of their own. I suppose it's always a little bit of both. We rely a lot on other human beings and people can definitely trigger emotions, but I think it's ultimately just us dealing with how we feel and why we feel that way.”

‘Inches Apart’ lyrics

You were born with thicker skin

And I am only oxygen

Whispering, darling please don’t stay

Because you can leave but I won’t wait

When I’m cold

And I’m lonely

Hold me in your arms

We’ll grow old

We will only

Be inches apart

I have built my cell by hand

I was dreaming of the southern sand

And while every night you visit me

Darling you are friends with misery

When I’m cold

And I’m lonely

Hold me in your arms

We’ll grow old

We will only

Be inches apart

When I’m cold

And I’m lonely

Hold me in your arms

We’ll grow old

We will only

Be inches apart

Oceans won’t take you

Oceans won’t take you

Oceans won’t take you

Oceans won’t take you

Jeni Magana's bio provokes the ambivalent cocktail of envy and admiration that the prodigiously talented always incite. With her former band Oh Odessa, she was credited on vocals, guitar, ukulele, bells, upright bass, clarinet, pump organ, piano, and bottles. The New York City based performer has previously played with The Polaroid Truth, Keppie Coutts, Will Knox and Dropkick Murphys, amongst many others. She has also played with several symphony orchestras.

Golden Tongue is her debut solo record and has been compared to St. Vincent, Courtney Barnett, Daughter and Cat Power. At its core Golden Tongue is a singer-songwriter record but the eclectic and inspired choice of instrumentation and arrangements make it into something greater. The opening track, ‘Get It Right’, with its organ, sax, and guitar chiming in unison has the retro sci-fi feel of The War Of The Worlds or Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy. Her soulful vocal and infectious chorus make it the perfect introduction to a new talent.

‘Inches Apart’s fingerpicked electric guitar and pleading vocal are more typical songwriter territory, and the subtle presence of Magana's backing instruments recalls Leonard Cohen's early work. She plays almost everything on the EP, backed up by the off-kilter beat of her rhythm section. ‘The World Doesn’t Know’ could be a Lisa Hannigan song. It has a whimsical verse paired with an austere chorus of “Every cell in your body belongs to the thought in my brain”.

Unusually, the EP finishes with the title track, suggesting that the preceding songs have been leading up to a significant denouement. And ‘Golden Tongue’ is no disappointment as the previously restrained and delicate vocals escalate to anguished howls and the esoteric guitar lines become pounding rock chords. After the catharsis of the closing song there is nothing left to do but press repeat.

Golden Tongue has enough range of emotion and musical variety to engage the attention from start to finish, and it feels like a journey in a way that many full albums fail to. It sounds like the birth of a new star and with the year that's in it, that is most welcome.

Like PJ Harvey’s early work, you feel that she is limited by her circumstances. Someone, give this woman a budget! With a complementary producer, a big band, and six months in the studio, Magana could compose a masterpiece. But, for the moment, working in a DIY fashion with a confined budget she is still able to construct songs of this intensity. Many great artists did their best work before the lucrative contracts came along and Magana has delivered four fiercely individual, and disparate songs.

The Golden Tongue EP can be pre-ordered from bandcamp here.