PREMIERE: JACKPAL'S UNREQUITED LOVE TRAGEDY IS TOO BEAUTIFUL FOR THIS EARTH...
...so it goes into SPACE!
JACKPAL's origin story is without a doubt one of the most curious I've ever heard of, and it goes like this: As a young teen, JACKPAL (aka Jack Powell) faced scrutiny and ridicule as an aspiring rapper living in the South. It wasn’t until his school bully stole his phone and found his notes app filled with lyrics that things began to turn around. Soon after, his biggest hater would become his biggest champion; inviting Jack to his home studio to start writing and recording music together as friends.
You know his lyrics were tight when his bully said "I'm bullying the wrong guy", and as fascinating as that story may be, it wouldn't mean much if Jack hadn't decided to pursue music and hone his skills til today.
"No matter how hard you try to gain someone’s love or trust, if they’re not ready to receive it, you won’t succeed”- JACKPAL
JACKPAL firmly defines himself as a pop artist, yet I can certainly say that the sound in his newest music video, 'Woman In The Walls' is far beyond just pop, it's almost too beautiful for that single label. This track feels a lot like swimming in a warm pool of rose-scented water, it's a slightly surreal experience blending sparse yet poignant Soul rhythms with ethereal bedroom pop vocals and nostalgic vapor-ish melodies hanging in the background like mood-enhancing drapery. An excellent sound, one of the finest pop songs I've heard this year, and the one that immediately turned me onto his growing discography.
'Woman In The Walls' is at once about a haunting feminine presence gnawing at your consciousness and a seemingly impenetrable barrier between JACKPAL and said woman. Its lyrics deal largely with avoidance and isolation, but also a terrible longing in what seems like a hopeless scenario where no strategy seems to work.
“When writing the song it was difficult because I was in a relationship that was in the process of slowly destroying itself. I had so many things I wanted to say but couldn’t speak out loud because I was scared to admit that losing them could be a reality. I tried so hard to keep them around that I lost them in that process.” - JACKPAL
The music video for this release was directed by Lucas O.M. (Producer of Overcast AZ’s music videos). He drew inspiration from space exploration (the Film 'Interstellar' in particular) to depict the motifs of deep loneliness and seemingly insurmountable odds that this would-be love story has to face to even begin. Just as space is the final frontier, some relationships remain much too far away from our grasp, a tantalizing offer of a love that shall remain unrequited.
Meet the author
Samuel Aponte is Venezuelan-born raised and based.
I joined Rival Magazine after a few years of doing PR work for independent musicians of all stripes; understanding their struggles to be heard in a sea of constant ADHD noise and paywalled access to platforms, I now bring a willingness to always appreciate and encourage the effort and creativity that artists put into their work . Can also find some of my writings on LADYGUNN and We Found New Music.