Ahead of the release of her studio album ANOMIE, Adelaide-based songwriter and musician Anna Jeavons shares another powerful taster with new single, ‘Smart Casual’.
A song that speaks to Jeavons’ heartfelt and natural talent for songwriting and storytelling, ‘Smart Casual’ is emotive and high impact. Produced by Ben Stewart (Slowly Slowly), it locks listeners in, with commanding vocals and layered guitars building to a moving crescendo. Jeavons pours reflections on a turbulent time in her life into lyrics that feel both accessible and intimate.
“Smart Casual is a song about how we don’t grow all year round and, like plants, need light and time. Like a lot of songs on the album, it wrestles with existential angst; it’s an outpouring of loneliness, and yearning for meaning. In the lyrics I say: I don’t believe in anything; I am more alone than I have ever been.
But it’s not all depressing. At the end you can hear me repeat the lyrics ‘it’ll be alright’, almost like a mantra. I think I wanted to believe I could tend to the parts of me that felt cold or buried – and eventually be ready to unfurl and grow again.”
Indeed, “It’ll be alright” may be the catchcry of the artist’s forthcoming album. A skilled lyricist, Anna carefully articulates commonplace anxieties. But it is hope, not self-pity, that’s left lingering in the listener’s ear.
Along with the release of ‘Smart Casual’, Jeavons is excited to share the song’s official music video, co-directed by Jeavons herself and Brendan Levi.
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Anna, who lives with Bipolar I Disorder, wanted to visually capture her relationship with nature: one of her great comforts in times of crisis.
“Imagery like lying in grass, or being engulfed by the ocean, is an important visual for the album. Reconnecting with the natural world, and listening to it, helps me slow down; to stop rushing headlong to my death. It makes me feel connected to something bigger, universal, eternal – to the natural order of things. Less alone. I can immerse my miserable, crushing individuality into something older and wiser – the earth, the long grass; a speck intermingling with an enormous universe.
The video was shot at locations between Brownhill Creek, Belair and Lynton Railway Station in Adelaide.
Jeavons wanted to contrast the footage with imagery of lying in bed in a dark room doomscrolling, representing her depression.
“I recruited my friends Brendan Levi and Daniel Wise to bring this one to life. We focused on aligning match cuts between the bedroom and the nature shots, and capturing footage from above that pulls out slowly. I was hoping to create a feeling of expansion, like in the song. It starts simple, then builds and opens up at the end, becoming big and cinematic. We wanted to mirror that in the music video.”
ANOMIE will be released on April 29 – the start of a much-anticipated new chapter for Jeavons, one of Adelaide’s long-beloved storytellers. So far this year, the artist has released six stunning tracks, each speaking to the themes of the album in their own way.
Featuring songs ‘Woo Me’, ‘On The Sidelines’, ‘Milky’ and more, the growing collection has provided newcomers with a great gateway to Jeavons’ music. For longtime fans, it’s been a poignant reminder of her dedication to the craft. With the release of ‘Smart Casual’, we see Anna Jeavons take another step forward, offering more poetic and nuanced musings on what it means to be alive.
SMART CASUAL IS OUT NOW
ANOMIE IS RELEASED WEDNESDAY 29 APRIL.
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