KARA JACKSON DEBUTS WITH “WHY DOES THE EARTH GIVE US PEOPLE TO LOVE”
BY LIAM GILLIN (He/Him)Chicago based singer-songwriter Kara Jackson released Why Does The Earth Give Us People to Love? on April 14. Jackson known for her poetry skills as she became the National Youth Poet Laureate in 2019, now is honing her craft to make transformative music that will leave listeners hitting replay. With her prior releases of the EPs “Song For Every Chamber of the Heart (2019)” and “Pawnshop (2023),” Why Does The Earth Give Us People to Love? is a compilation of lyrical sonnets and monologues that is the foundation for the themes of heartbreak and unrequited love. This is an album that sets out to be different from the rest in the folk/alt-country scene as it is an album of acoustic mediation.
Channeling the experiences of heartbreaks, self-sabotage, and unrequited love, Jackson’s lyricism supported by gentle acoustic strings, flutes, and a vocal presence that can be described as a rhythmic talking pattern that listeners often do not hear that evolves into harmonious singing. “Never asked if I can be his lover, special someone when he suffers. He wants me. He wants therapy.” from the song “therapy” perfectly sums up the struggle of wanting to be loved but instead only receiving that love when it’s for someone’s else’s personal gain or emotional fix. The six minute song “why does the earth give us people to love,” is a song made to question why life and the world is the way it is. “Trained my corneas not to cry but they will not obey this time.” showcases the strength Kara Jackson is able to gain throughout all the confusion and suffering that life offers sometimes.
Why Does The Earth Give Us People to Love? is an album that will have people listening to Kara Jackson on repeat. This is a piece of music that makes listeners feel not only intrigued but also feel that their voices have been heard. It is truly an album that lets listeners know that they are not alone in whatever they are going through. Kara Jacksan’s empowering poetic capabilities sets her music apart from the rest as she let’s listeners know that knows who she is and will remain true to it.