Los Angeles rock vixen Jesse Jo Stark released the music video for her single “Die Young” today, premiering exclusively on TMRW. Directed by artist Daniel Regan, the video is a visual metaphor for Jesse Jo’s song, taking the viewer through the cycles of love and loss, rebirths and passings, the feelings of vulnerability and hardships a woman faces as she makes her way through challenges in her life.
The song, available via all digital and streaming platforms, is both a sonic and songwriting leap for the Stark. A cinematic and symphonic slow burn, this epic piece evokes wonder, pain, tranquility, joy, loss, and ultimately, hope. A psychedelic sprawl for the listener, the track takes them on a reflective journey through the pivotal moments and memories that make up life.
Says Jesse Jo, “I usually don’t like to explain my songs. but with the heaviness and discomfort in the world, I want to be clear. die young is about all of the personal deaths and rebirths I’ve been through in my life. love and loss. times when I’ve felt like an alien and had to fly away. or accept that I am an alien sometimes. this song is me looking back and realizing that these times made me who I am. I am grateful for every moment I breathe in and I fuck with the future.”
“Die Young” is Stark’s third release this year, behind the gorgeous rendition of the John Prine classic “Angel From Montgomery” and the second single, the shoegaze and country-soaked anthem “Tangerine,” both of which are off her forthcoming full-length album. Next up is “Billy Don’t Be So Mad,” due for release later this year.
Jesse Jo Stark’s story seeps through her music—a heady, stylized mix of earthy Americana and Hollywood allure. The music is timeless with unmissable nods to 70s rock, classic country, and ethereal pop, while heavy strokes of sex and kitsch add a playfulness to the workmanship of her songwriting. Sitting at a mesmerizing cross-section of Mazzy Star, Fleetwood Mac, and Lee Hazlewood, to listen to Jesse Jo Stark is to step into an artfully crafted other world—cinematic and consuming. Glossy and gritty. A Tarantino film in under five minutes. Jesse Jo is romance 70s AM radio with your lovers’ head on your shoulder. She is the last of the true California girls. Like the devils wind she’ll have you driving down the PCH with the top down. Starks voice is soft like velvet, a hypnotic seductress on stage, holding the audience in the palm of her stiletto- nailed hand. Whether it is to dance or cry, she will move you. And you will want her to. Jesse Jo Stark is not following the culture. She’s creating it.
