Jana Horn – Jana Horn

Stillness is a healing balm that surrounds the self-titled third release from the Austin, Texas singer-songwriter. A more stripped-down affair than 2023’s exceptional The Window Is the Dream, which featured more percussive dalliances, Jana Horn gently sways, set against a cinematic backdrop. Choosing to go the self-titled route might initially seem like a creative rebirth for Horn, but given her established motifs, it feels like a reset instead.

While returning to the quietly understated approach of her debut LP, Optimism, might suggest a slight regression, Horn revisits such minimalist strokes with more subtle sophistication. Whether rustling snare drums softly mark blissful piano strokes (“It’s Alright”) or high-pitched woodwind accompaniments (“Go on, move your body”), Horn aims to let her songs simmer in her unhurried delivery. Her emotions ultimately boil over when the time calls for it, like on “Don’t Think,” where she reflects on the effortless nature of love over ambling fingerpicking before it settles into a haunting finish.

Staying true to past efforts, Horn writes songs that defy easy explanations. Ever the observational songwriter, her fragments often hold more weight than the themes she chooses to reveal. Take the stunning “Designer,” one of the more full-bodied tracks on here, where her cryptic musings (“Living through the dreams she wakes up from”) create a disquieting mood before building into a melancholic crescendo. And when there are moments of surprising directness, like on “Without,” one is left wondering if there is more than meets the eye: “If you believe yourself, I will try too.”

If there’s something that holds back the album from even greater heights, it is its overly familiar ambiance, which at times resembles the sweeping film scores typically associated with indie country-western dramas. But that doesn’t in any way diminish Horn’s songwriting, filtered through a warm and pensive haze, which becomes more distinct as her career progresses.

Jana Horn is out now via No Quarter Records.