Cassandra Jenkins is an artist known for her great storytelling and intricate soundscapes that have captured the hearts of many. Her debut album, An Overview on Phenomenal Nature, made it into Rough Trade’s top 10 titles of 2021, leaving fans eagerly awaiting her next release. In 2024, Cassandra returned with My Light, My Destroyer, her second album and first on new label home, Dead Oceans.
My Light, My Destroyer is a dreamlike world filled with astute observations and a warm sense of humor. Cassandra’s familiar blending of folk, ambient pop and found sound reigns supreme on the record. Despite her idiosyncratic style, the album remains sonically fresh, which will introduce new musical tricks to audiences.
During Cassandra’s visit to Rough Trade East for their Shoplifting series, she shared her diverse inspirations and influences with the audience. Accompanied by Glaswegian band LYLO, who backed her up throughout various EU tours over the years, Cassandra held her first London show in two years.
Cassandra shared that Miles Davis’ Kind of Blue was one of the first records that her jazz dad gave her, and it is a classic that she still holds dear. “I just have a deeply personal relationship with this record because I have a jazz dad. I think a lot of my friends have Steely Dan dads but I got a jazz dad. So jazz dad passes on to me.” she laughed. “It was given to me alongside Joni Mitchell’s Blue, which I tried to shoplift, but it seems everyone else has already gotten there before me.”
Entry into the Shoplifting series seems to have struck greed into Cassandra, and she decided to grab two Rebecca Solnit books, Men Explain Things to Me, and Wanderlust: A History of Walking. “I love her writing so much. It has influenced the way that I just moved through the world,” Cassandra said. She also shared that there’s a chapter in Men Explain Things To Me called ‘Cassandra Among The Creeps,’ which made her feel like Solnit understood her. “London is such an incredible city to walk around; it gives me a sense of Wanderlust.
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