“I want people to have an ‘altered time’ kind of experience
that happens in the theater or a really good movie — the kind where
you can forget about what’s going on with you and travel like you’re
dreaming.”
For singer/songwriter Jana Losey and her and co-writer/producer Melanie
Peters, it’s not just the live performances that have felt dreamlike
in recent days. After touring cross-country and moving back to her hometown
of Lawrenceville, PA (population 600), Jana and Melanie recorded this
labor of love mostly in the house where Jana grew up — the same house
that will soon be torn down to accommodate the new highway currently going
up in their backyard!
Naturally, that experience played a part in shaping the lyrical themes
new songs such as “The Song You Heard.” “Some people have
children, and that makes them feel a slice of immortality,” explains
Losey. “I have my music to leave behind – my songs are my children,
my slice of immortality.”
Though some of the stories in the songs deal with darkness and loneliness,
they are often balanced by bright melodies and driving rhythms. On first
listen, “5 Days” might sound like an upbeat pop song. But the
origin of the song was a newspaper about a woman who fell and remained
on the floor for three days before anyone found her. “My grandmother
was in a similar situation,” says Losey. “I was sickly fascinated
with what it must be like to be lying on the floor in various states of
conciousness for that long.”
Other songs such as “The Day” are exorcisms of frustration.
“Some days you wonder why you do what you do, and why don’t
you just give up all your dreams right now and get a real job,” Losey
explains. “That’s the emotion behind that song in a nutshell.
Despite all that anger behind it, the song came out sounding strangely
happy.”
It’s those juxtapositions of dark and light that reward repeated
listenings with subtle shades of meaning. Whereas some musicians might
be content to conjure songs with memorable melodies, Jana Losey is the
kind of thoughtful writer and charismatic performer who wants to take
her audience deeper and create moments that stay with them a little longer
after they’ve turned off the record or left the concert.
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