Jadu Heart
Derealised
VLF
Diva-Sachy Jeffrey and Alex Headford of Jadu Heart began making music together when attending the British and Irish Modern Music Institute in 2016. When tasked with a group project, they created what became their first EP, Wanderflower, a lush and dreamy yet melancholic tale of love and loss—a compelling debut for the then-nascent duo.
On Jadu Heart’s new release, their third LP Derealised, the duo dives deep into their past and their mental health, introspectively examining their struggles through the lens of hope and optimism instead of hopelessness and nihilism. According to the pair, this latest record was partly inspired by the COVID-19 lockdown when both suffered from bouts of derealization and depression. During that time, they created two other albums which were scrapped for being too dark. When they went back to the drawing board, they decided to create something more hopeful, and Derealised was the end result—a shoegaze-inspired album that lifts you up despite its undercurrent of darkness.
Although Derealised is steeped in optimism, it doesn’t shy away from the darkness and self-loathing that accompanies poor mental health, making this record a rich and complex tapestry of sound and lyricism. A good example of this complexity is found on the second track, “Cocoon,” which starts with the vocalist singing about feeling hopeless and defeated: “Shotgun to the face / Is this the place that I will end it?” However, the song ends on a hopeful note—almost as if there’s a dim light that cannot be extinguished despite this dark cynical specter lingering. “And I see a future, and I see a daughter / And, oh, I see a life, I look in her face,” sings Headford.
Not all songs pivot toward hopefulness—“Blame,” for example, is solely there to explore negative emotions. But by the next track, “Freedom,” they’re able to find their way out of this negative mind state. It’s as if the duo finds real hope by exploring the dark parts of their mind to understand themselves instead of repressing their negative emotions. This is the constant game of push and pull present across Derealised: A large precipice of despair begets hope, but at the same time, hope begets a large precipice of despair. It’s a vicious cycle that many who suffer from mental health issues can relate to. But I think that’s the point Jadu Heart is trying to make—despite the constant lows, hope always finds its way back.
