Snail Mail's — the project of Lindsey Jordan — highly anticipated third album, 'Ricochet'. Her first album in five years, she returns with a renewed sense of clarity and control, asserting herself as a generational songwriter with a sharpened perspective. While her early work chronicled the emotional turbulence of young love, 'Ricochet' reveals a deeper fixation: time, mortality, and the quiet terror of watching the things you love slip away. The album’s 11 songs are steeped in introspection, anxiety, and acceptance — an acknowledgment that the world keeps turning regardless of what’s unfolding in your own small orbit.
Written during a period of intense personal change that included a move to North Carolina from NYC, 'Ricochet' finds Jordan reckoning with questions she once avoided, namely death and what comes after. The album pairs her incisive lyricism with newly expansive melodies, ornate string arrangements, and hypnotic textures, marking a natural evolution from Lush’s poised guitar work and Valentine’s raw emotional charge. Sonically, 'Ricochet' channels the luminous side of ’90s alternative rock — echoing Smashing Pumpkins at their sunniest, Radiohead at their most Britpop, and the shoegaze haze of bands like Catherine Wheel and Ivy — all filtered through Jordan’s singular voice.
After undergoing surgery for vocal polyps and intensive speech therapy ahead of 2021’s 'Valentine' tour, Jordan emerges on 'Ricochet' as a more confident and controlled vocalist — an ironic strength for an album centered on uncertainty. She recorded the album with producer and bassist Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma) at Fidelitorium Recordings in North Carolina, as well as Nightfly and Studio G in Brooklyn. The sessions, Jordan says, felt “refreshing, trusting, and comfortable,” allowing her to fully inhabit the songs without compromise.
The album also marks a departure in Jordan's creative process. "I've never done this before, but I wrote all of the instrumentals and vocal melodies on the piano or guitar, and then I filled in the lyrics all at once over a year," she explains. This shift gave her more time to craft the expansive melodies that define 'Ricochet's sound
The album’s lyrical world is informed by art that grapples with existence itself. Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York looms large, while tracks like ‘Nowhere’ draw inspiration from Laura Gilpin’s poem “The Two-Headed Calf.” On ‘My Maker’, Jordan imagines overstaying her welcome at a celestial airport bar, pleading, “Oh, bouncer in the sky / Let me in, I’m scared to die.” Elsewhere, 'Ricochet' mourns fading friendships, lost simplicity, and the ache of emotional distance — a record about being anxious not over the bad, but over how fleeting the good can be.
The album’s artwork mirrors its themes. 'Ricochet' is the first Snail Mail release not to feature Jordan’s face; instead, a spiral shell floats in a distressed blue expanse, symbolizing both inward collapse and outward infinity — the push and pull of growth, distance, and perspective.
Written during a period of intense personal change that included a move to North Carolina from NYC, 'Ricochet' finds Jordan reckoning with questions she once avoided, namely death and what comes after. The album pairs her incisive lyricism with newly expansive melodies, ornate string arrangements, and hypnotic textures, marking a natural evolution from Lush’s poised guitar work and Valentine’s raw emotional charge. Sonically, 'Ricochet' channels the luminous side of ’90s alternative rock — echoing Smashing Pumpkins at their sunniest, Radiohead at their most Britpop, and the shoegaze haze of bands like Catherine Wheel and Ivy — all filtered through Jordan’s singular voice.
After undergoing surgery for vocal polyps and intensive speech therapy ahead of 2021’s 'Valentine' tour, Jordan emerges on 'Ricochet' as a more confident and controlled vocalist — an ironic strength for an album centered on uncertainty. She recorded the album with producer and bassist Aron Kobayashi Ritch (Momma) at Fidelitorium Recordings in North Carolina, as well as Nightfly and Studio G in Brooklyn. The sessions, Jordan says, felt “refreshing, trusting, and comfortable,” allowing her to fully inhabit the songs without compromise.
The album also marks a departure in Jordan's creative process. "I've never done this before, but I wrote all of the instrumentals and vocal melodies on the piano or guitar, and then I filled in the lyrics all at once over a year," she explains. This shift gave her more time to craft the expansive melodies that define 'Ricochet's sound
The album’s lyrical world is informed by art that grapples with existence itself. Charlie Kaufman’s Synecdoche, New York looms large, while tracks like ‘Nowhere’ draw inspiration from Laura Gilpin’s poem “The Two-Headed Calf.” On ‘My Maker’, Jordan imagines overstaying her welcome at a celestial airport bar, pleading, “Oh, bouncer in the sky / Let me in, I’m scared to die.” Elsewhere, 'Ricochet' mourns fading friendships, lost simplicity, and the ache of emotional distance — a record about being anxious not over the bad, but over how fleeting the good can be.
The album’s artwork mirrors its themes. 'Ricochet' is the first Snail Mail release not to feature Jordan’s face; instead, a spiral shell floats in a distressed blue expanse, symbolizing both inward collapse and outward infinity — the push and pull of growth, distance, and perspective.
STAFF COMMENTS
Barry says: Evocative, soaring indie-pop as ever from Snail Mail, beautifully toeing the line between pop-punk and singer-songwriter indie music with an unmatched melodic skill and unforgettable ear for a progression. Another step forward for one of the most captivating voices in modern indie.TRACK LISTING
1. Tractor Beam
2. My Maker
3. Light On Our Feet
4. Cruise
5. Agony Freak
6. Dead End
7. Butterfly
8. Nowhere
9. Hell
10. Ricochet
11. Reverie
