Snail Mail – Ricochet

I don’t think there has been an album like Snail Mail’s third, Ricochet, that I have

been simultaneously anticipating and afraid to listen to. The name of the

experimental alt-rock group Snail Mail is often erroneously attributed as the

professional synonym for their lead vocalist and songwriter, Lindsey Jordan, despite

her insistence to the contrary. Snail Mail’s previous album, 2021’s Valentine, is one

of my favourite albums of the decade, so I have been eagerly awaiting its follow-up.

When it finally dropped at the end of March, it took me a few weeks to build up the

courage to actually listen to it. Compared to Valentine, which was an epic

documentation of a break-up with melodramatic allusions to the Bible, Ricochet was

built on an instrumental foundation, with Lindsey, over the years, gradually adding

lyrics from her thoughts and poetry after finalising an album’s worth of music. In the

press, Lindsey cites a multitude of inspirations for her new material, from arthouse

films like Synecdoche, New York and Mysterious Skin, poetry, and an extensive

range of music, compiled and arranged to examine her thanatophobia and religious

trauma. It’s hard, therefore, to fully note all the references on the record. Are the

repeating lick on opener “Tractor Beam” reminding me of The President of the USA’s

“Peaches,” or “Cruise” reminding me of Avril Lavigne’s “I’m With You”, intentional, or

just my brain making those associations? I can’t confidently say either way. I would

describe Ricochet like this: Imagine a 2D box. It is within the four lines of the box

where the music, mainly comprising atmospherically floaty soundscapes, exists,

whilst the unexplored empty centre is the actual continuity of the record. Valentine

had some songs which hinted at this direction (such as “Headlock,” “c. et al.,” and

“Mia”), but, ever-expanding as an artist, Ricochet displays a bold new move in

Lindsey’s musical journey, and it is a trip that I feel personally connected to, having

shared a lot of the anxieties explored.