Bio

Vancouver’s Jess Hill may well be moving in a new direction; strangely though, it’s the past that is setting her course. On “Pieces” a five song EP to be released March 2013 Hill has opened up with yet another layer of intimacy. With the end of a relationship looming large in her heart Hill reached into the back catalog of a decade long songwriting career and carefully selected songs that felt dear enough to be the lost children of her muse, found once more. Upon reacquainting herself with these dusty tunes she decided to put the newer works on hold in order to focus on “tying up her creative loose ends.” Hill admits it was a bit of a shock to feel so compelled by material that had been tucked away in a journal for years saying, “I suddenly understood them better than I had before. It was a startling surprise, an insight into the current of my life that I hadn’t anticipated. I could see how at the time that they were written I had broken my own heart with assumptions and insecurities. I could see that even in the throws of confusion and pain there is always this curiosity that goes on seeking and giving in spite of it. That they weren’t heartbreak songs at all, they were made to honor human experiences.” Having selected the tunes she wanted to record Hill headed into the studio with frequent collaborator, Jesse Gander (Gander also recorded Hill’s album ORCHARD), and her belief that the “work of a songwriter is to build little altars for moments.” This belief informed the production of the record allowing for space and texture to breathe as deeply as the sounds the players themselves make. With a palette of percussion, pump organ, pedal steel, trumpet and harmonies surrounding Hill’s own guitar playing and vocals the songs on Pieces become the whispers of heart worn lovers made more dreamy by their losses. They are hopeless romantics whispering sweet everythings, even the hard words find their way through on Pieces confirming once more that Jess is a storyteller who will smash your heart and pinch you in your sweetest nerves, before singing you to sleep all in one gently fierce moment.