Jens Kuross’ new album, aptly named, Crooked Songs, is out now. The tracks were produced to resemble the stripped-back nature of Kuross’ live show: no frills, with emotion coming out forward before anything else in the music. Crooked Songs feels like the magic of stumbling upon a hidden talent performing for an audience of none – like walking in on someone playing after hours in a school auditorium by themselves.
Jens Kuross has a background that resembles something sort of like that: a former Los Angeles session musician, turned under-the-radar carpenter in Idaho. At a basement show in Boise is where Hayden Pedigo first heard Jens Kuross play his songs. Following a deeply emotional performance – one Pedigo later described as the best set he’d ever witnessed – he wasted no time in stepping in to help Kuross bring his debut album, Crooked Songs, to life.
The album creates a sparse atmosphere that feels intensely intimate as it does limitless. The recurring wonky piano and accompanying instrumentation carry between each track, creating a floorboard structure that isn’t quite even, yet feels homemade and personal. The record has moments of humanity, moments like the echoing ending of “Beggar’s Nation” (“what goes around, it comes around”) that personifies an internal spiraling. The swell in “Hymn of Defeat” is just subtle enough to make an impact without taking over the song entirely, while the plucking keys feel like deliberate and delicate thoughts. Even the transition from this track to the next, “Inside Joke,” is intentional, making the album exceptionally rewarding when experienced in a full, uninterrupted listen. The album closes with a minute of ambient residue – cups clinking, footsteps, sighs – like the lingering presence of a room just vacated, leaving behind the air of something intimately experienced.
Through these lyrics and production choices, Pedigo and Kuross successfully put to tape the feeling of a live performance with no bells or whistles. Kuross’ vocals are raw, letting moments of shakiness come through naturally. The imperfections are deliberate, serving an emotional fingerprint that makes the album feel lived-in. Crooked Songs reaches for truth, and in doing so, leaves us with something far more vulnerable and enduring.
Listen to Crooked Songs below:
Jens Kuross Tour Dates:
(all dates supporting Hayden Pedigo)
Wed. Oct. 22 – Albuquerque, NM @ The Cell at FUSION
Thu. Oct. 23 – Colorado Springs, CO @ Lulu’s Downtown
Fri. Oct. 24 – Denver, CO @ Swallow Hill
Sun. Oct. 26 – Salt Lake City, UT @ Parker Theatre
Mon. Oct. 27 – Boise, ID @ Shrine Social Club
Wed. Oct. 29 – Portland, OR @ Mississippi Studios
Fri. Oct. 31 – Seattle, WA @ Ballard Homestead
Sat. Nov. 1 – Vancouver, BC @ Wise Hall
Tue. Nov. 4 – Santa Cruz, CA @ The Crepe Place (Outdoors)
Wed. Nov. 5 – San Francisco, CA @ The Chapel
Thu. Nov. 6 – Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy and Harriets
Fri. Nov. 7 – Los Angeles, CA @ Barnsdall Gallery Theatre
Sat. Nov. 8 – Ojai, CA @ Ojai Valley Woman’s Club
Mon. Nov. 10 – San Diego, CA @ Casbah
Tue. Nov. 11 – Tucson, AZ @ Pidgin Palace Arts
Thu. Nov. 13 – El Paso, TX @ Lowbrow Palace
Fri. Nov. 14 – Marfa, TX @ Ballroom Marfa
Sat. Nov 15 – Austin, TX @ Central Presbyterian Church
Sun. Nov. 16 – Houston, TX @ White Oak Music Hall (Upstairs)
Mon. Nov. 17 – Dallas, TX @ Sons of Hermann Hall
Wed. Nov. 19 – Kansas City, MO @ The Ship
Thu. Nov. 20 – Omaha, NE @ Reverb Lounge
Fri. Nov. 21 – Minneapolis, MN @ Icehouse
Sun. Nov. 23 – Chicago, IL @ Sleeping Village
Mon. Nov. 24 – Indianapolis, ID @ Turntable
Wed. Nov. 26 – Toronto, ON @ The Great Hall
Thu. Nov. 27 – Montreal, QC @ L’Esco
Sat. Nov. 29 – Brooklyn, NY @ St. John’s Lutheran Church
Sun. Nov. 30 – Philadelphia, PA @ Black Squirrel Club
Mon. Dec. 1 – Washington, DC @ Union Stage
Wed. Dec. 3- Atlanta, GA @ Masquerade (Altar)
Thu. Dec. 4 – Nashville, TN @ The Blue Room at Third Man Records
Fri. Dec. 5 – Memphis, TN @ 1884 Lounge
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