Singer-songwriter Holly Rankin – better known as Jack River – has returned with her first single for the year, the sparkling, euphoric ‘Real Life’. It’s a feel-good cut that takes its cues from 90s dance-pop (think Len‘s ‘Steal My Sunshine’), replete with soaring horns, grooving bass and washes of reverb-heavy guitar.
‘Real Life’ arrives alongside a similarly vibrant video directed by W.A.M. Bleakley, which you can check out below.
Watch Jack River’s Video for ‘Real Life’
“‘Real Life’ is the 90s-esque dreamland I needed to take a trip to in the depths of neverending lockdowns,” Rankin said of her latest single. “Amidst the gloom, I wanted to feel a peculiar and perfect summer, even if just for three minutes.”
Coinciding with the new single, Rankin has announced a pair of headline shows for next month. She’ll take to the stage at Melbourne’s Northcote Social Club on Thursday, 18th August before playing Oxford Art Factory in Sydney the following evening. Grab your tickets here.
Jack River followed her debut album, 2018’s Sugar Mountain, with the Stranger Heart EP in 2020. Rankin released one other single prior to ‘Real Life’, the protest anthem ‘We Are the Youth’, which came out last year after Jack River appeared at a School Strike 4 Climate rally.
“We want change and action, and we are ready to work to build our way out of a broken system,” she said of the song, which was nominated for the inaugural Environmental Music Prize.
Further reading
ARIA Launches New Event Series ‘In Conversation’ With The Wombats & Jack River
Jack River Called For Channel 7 To Play More Aussie Music & They Reckon They’re Gonna Do It
Jack River’s ‘Visions Of Us’ – Sydney Opera House Forecourt, 9/4/21
