JOBIE Is Authentically Human On Debut Album ‘Grendel’
Samantha Colleran, March 2023
JOBIE (Josie Arthur) is an independent singer-songwriter with a knack for pulling her real life experiences into her music and creating honest, vulnerable art for her audience. When listening to her work, it’s hard to believe she is only a rising artist yet to have her big break.
A few single releases through 2021 and 2022 establish JOBIE as a powerhouse songwriter and vocalist comparable to Lizzy McAlpine and Phoebe Bridgers. One thing that makes JOBIE’s work stand out is the fact that creating music goes beyond her auditory senses; JOBIE has synesthesia which in turn makes her music creating process feel like painting a blank canvas.
Her most recent release is her debut album Grendel, which sees JOBIE reflecting on her past and coming into herself completely. She is no longer trying to be someone she’s not and is instead focusing her energy on being authentic in her artistic expression, which is evident through the eight tracks on Grendel.
The album title comes from John Gardner’s magnum opus of the same name, which JOBIE read in a high school English class. JOBIE found herself drawn to Grendel instead of Beowulf and the Danes. She shares that the record overall is about “how hard it is to deal with people, and to deal with relationships when you are actually an outsider”. The cover art for the album was designed by JOBIE herself, it depicts Grendel as a brightly colored “fearsome creature” peering through the world with a single “inquisitive, glassy eye”. Grendel sees JOBIE digging deep into her psyche and coming to terms with insecurities stemming from childhood, paired with deep lyrics and folky melodies that will hook you from beginning to end.
Listening to Grendel for the first time is done best in a quiet room with no distractions and your favorite pair of headphones to allow for full focus. Her lyrics are ones you’ll want to truly absorb, and the softer instrumentals allow them to truly shine. From the first track, ‘take my coat’, JOBIE welcomes you into her world of poetic imagery and personal anecdotes; “I’ve been chasing ghosts/ Oh I’ve been racing time/ I know I blame the fools/ Though the blame is mine”.
Instrumentally it’s a very easy listen, at its core lyrically Grendel is a deeply reflective body of work that allows listeners to truly understand JOBIE as an artist and a human navigating complicated feelings and challenges the world throws her way. If you were to ask JOBIE her favorite track, she’d point you in the direction of closing track ‘to this day (grendel)’. Written during a time where she was struggling to figure out who she is in the world, but working on and completing the song allowed her to figure that out just a little bit; “Between the song’s genesis and its release, I learned a few things about myself that gave me the ability to look at my childhood through a different lens, as well as gain a better understanding of why I felt that way. When I revisited the song, I got a lot of catharsis from it.”
Coming to terms with the things that make you different is a challenge, but it’s one JOBIE sings about so well, and it’s a feeling she’s most definitely not alone in. JOBIE shared that after her album release show in Virginia, people came up to her afterward and shared how deeply they resonated with ‘to this day (grendel)’. “It was funny to hear because I had written it about feeling different from other people, but to hear that many others also have a similar childhood wound made me feel a lot less alone… I came to understand that each of us had very personal singular reasons for feeling isolated as we grew up, but the feeling that came as a result of it is the same.”
One of the harder songs to write for JOBIE was ‘cruel vice’ (a personal favorite of mine- with lyrics like “Knew from the start I had my doubts about this town/ Put up my walls so you could break them down/ The way I act when you’re around/ Don’t need to think about it now”, how could it not be an immediate favorite?). Coming up with a bridge proved to be a challenge, but the final result is a beautiful anecdote about living life and learning from your past.
JOBIE’s ultimate musical goal is to bring to light the feelings and emotions people go through but may not be ready to openly speak about, and she hopes that her music can allow people to begin the difficult conversations surrounding these feelings. With Grendel, she most definitely achieves that goal. This is a can’t miss album of 2023, and one you’ll be thankful you found early on.
You can stream Grendel on Spotify, Apple Music, or any other streaming service you may use! Follow JOBIE on Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter to stay up to date on future releases and upcoming shows in the Boston, MA area.