I wrote about Kid Tigrrr (aka Jenna Fournier) not long ago, you can read it here.

Her new album Stoned + Animald came out last Friday, and it took me a few listens to connect with it. At first listen it’s very gentle and dreamy, but it’s a record to pay close attention to. I didn’t give it the attention it deserved until late late late Saturday night — and once I started, I spent hours scrubbing through lyrics and replaying songs to catch details. Rather than soothing, this record cost me sleep.

It would be easy to mistake this record as all atmospherics. There are long instrumental stretches, the tempos are unhurried and gentle, and Jenna Fournier’s voice is soft and textural throughout, often nearly indistinct. Once I started listening to the lyrics, though, it was all over for me. Here’s the first song on the record, you’ll see what I mean:

Fournier sings about feeling trapped, overwhelmed, and scared. Substance abuse, anxiety, and destructive relationships are all strong themes throughout these songs, both metaphorically and concretely. This article in Cleveland Scene provides context and background for the record:

Fournier says the album title alludes to the Bob Dylan tune “Rainy Day Women #12 and #35,” which she has previously covered on a single.

“’Stoned’ is a metaphor for judging in that Bob Dylan song,” she says. “I really liked that. After I did the cover, that’s when the album title came to me. ‘Animald’ is a way to reference survival mode. It’s one of the themes in the old songs. Everyone was in this survival mode during the pandemic. People start hoarding and getting selfish. It’s alluding to the survival mode of the time when this album was made.”

Balancing all of that is lush and rich production, with layers of sampled tones and long quiet instrumental stretches. “Scry” is one of my favourites from the record:

“PTSD” is another killer example of a song that initially sounds like lovely atmospherics, but on closer listen, the lyrics reveal themselves as something much more personal and serious:

No one taught me about PTSD
No one talked about anything
I know you don’t see me bleeding
‘Cause l’m a really great actress with an audience of only me
Calm down everything’s just fine
And I say it every day so it must not be a lie

If I’m honest, Stoned and Animald didn’t make much of an impression on first listen, but once it got its claws into me it hasn’t let me go. It’s fully worth the time and effort to dig into this one. It’s stunning and memorable stuff.

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