Classical Notions of Happiness is somewhat bafflingly both a culmination of an artists’ entire creative life—compiling years of loose singles and drawing from a variety of music-related life experiences and personal anxieties—and the product of a nineteen year old. Jordana Nye’s debut is a repackaging of several of her bedroom pop singles along with a handful of new tracks, all of which serve as a reminder of the accelerating rate at which humans are undergoing trauma.
From a recollection of her high school’s response to her friend and classmate’s suicide to a casual stream-of-consciousness reminder not to toss her cat across her room, Classical Notions of Happiness distills the millennial experience with a commendable level of calm us older folks generally only get a glimpse of from politically charged TikToks. The minimalist bedroom arrangements have the same playful spirit as tracks from someone like Frankie Cosmos, while generally addressing more sobering subjects.
CNOH is out today via Grand Jury Records—stream it below, and read along below to get an idea of where Nye was coming from on each track.
1. “Remembering U”
A song about a friend who took their life, and the emotions that it brought with it—the sadness, the thought of, “I didn’t do enough and in hindsight I had the opportunity to do more.”
2. “Jackie’s 15”
A song about the naivety that comes with being a fifteen-year-old girl obsessed with boys in bands. It can be fun, but can also be dangerous (because of the predators).
3. “Intrusive Thoughts”
A bouncy tune with darker meaning: how impulse and mental illness combined can make someone have thoughts of themselves doing unreasonable things, like throwing their sweet cat, or purposely crashing their car.
4. “I Wanna”
A long distance love song about the ache to spend every moment near someone.
5. “Interlude”
A beachy, feel-good instrumental as a break from all the emotional chaos. Also the shortest song on the album—coincidence? I think not.
6. “Canvas”
First original song. “Canvas” is about opening up to someone, being completely honest with them and expecting the same in return without having to ask.
7. “Calvary”
A simple song about Kansas, pals, and gardening.
8. “What Were You Thinking”
A song about dark thoughts, wanting to die, but reminding yourself that you would be leaving your mom and your cats behind. Then having a heart-to-heart with yourself to try and figure out why you think that way in the first place.
9. “Losing It”
A song about falling out of love with someone.
10. “Weight of the World”
This song is about dwelling in the lowest low, and knowing someday you might feel the least bit OK, even if it isn’t in the near future.
11. “Sway”
“Sway” is a love song about a loss for words—where instead of speaking, a single, shameless movement, a sway, takes place in its absence.
12. “Signs”
Some people are really big on astrology, and like to associate a person with their sign and sometimes judge a person before they meet them. This is basically what this song is about. I hung out with a person like that once and it was really awkward, and in the song it definitely insinuates that we weren’t vibing with each other.
13. “Crunch”
“Crunch” is a feeling of an overbearing want for validation from someone and getting the cold shoulder from them. The song starts out with the confidence in knowing this person could possibly notice you, and ends in anger and frustration seeing that they ignored you, established by a distorted guitar solo.
