Her second album, originally due out in 2011, took 5 years to complete. In a recent interview, Jackson reflected on the process: “Everything surroundingwas trouble, it did what it said on the tin, it created problems.” During production, Jackson split with her silent partner, Ben Langmaid, who co-wrote and produced the previous album. Her label, Polydor Records, dropped her on New Years Day, in 2015.
Toward the end of 2017, a recovered Jackson was three years into developing what she thought would be her third album when she had a painful epiphany. While on holiday with her then partner of 10 years, she suddenly collapsed to the ground in the throes of a panic attack. “It was like being shot with a gun. I had the biggest realization about my life that I’ve ever had," she said."It was like realizing that everything you think supports your life and your happiness is basically a lie.
is a meditation on the pain of enlightenment, and ultimately a reminder that the truth is always what sets us free. The Bee Gees-esque “Do You Feel” rattles off an infectious loop of existential questions: “Do you feel like you believed in something and you never even questioned why?/Does it feel like you’re running from it, all the while running out of time?” On “Everything I Live For,” Jackson contrasts a difficult realization, “There’s something in the atmosphere/telling me things that I don’t wanna hear/taking me places I don’t wanna be,” with a gleeful, uplifting melody.