Harlequin Jones Breaks the Silence With 'TRUST YOURSELF'

It’s rare to find an album that doesn’t just explore darkness but lives in it—understands it, survives it, and somehow, against all odds, transforms it into art. Harlequin Jones new full-length record TRUST YOURSELF isn’t just music—it’s a body on the table. It’s a soul unraveling and restitching itself before your eyes, one gut-wrenching, piano-pounding track at a time.

Emerging from a long and painful hiatus, Amanda and Jesse Anatole—the duo behind Harlequin Jones—return with a vengeance. Formed in Los Angeles in 2005, they’ve always been hard to define: not quite rock, not quite cabaret, but undeniably theatrical and haunting. Their sound fuses baroque pop, eerie piano rock, and dark cabaret with Amanda’s versatile, searing vocals at the helm. On TRUST YOURSELF, all of that becomes something deeper—an urgent reckoning with chronic illness, gaslighting, trauma, and lost years clawed back through the power of songwriting.

Songs for the Chronically Misunderstood

The album opens like a warning and an invitation. From the jump, Harlequin Jones wastes no time making their mission clear: this is for the ones who were dismissed, misdiagnosed, ignored, and underestimated. “Busted Flush” delivers this message with teeth, referencing the humiliating and maddening experience of being laughed at by medical professionals—only to later discover those instincts were right all along. The piano crashes like a tidal wave while Amanda’s voice teeters between restrained rage and operatic wail.

There’s something distinctly theatrical about their work—but it never feels performative. These aren’t roles being played. This is real life, scored by vibraphones, Mellotrons, and echoing, multilayered vocals that sound like ghosts harmonizing in a hallway. Tracks like “Inconsistent Existence” capture the surreal experience of living in stasis—watching the world spin while your body betrays you in silence.

Rage, Humor, and the Sound of Surviving

But it’s not all sorrow. “EVERYTHING IS ANNOYING” explodes into punk energy with a smirk. It’s a cathartic, head-bobbing takedown of everything and everyone—a necessary break in the emotional weight, reminding us that anger can be just as healing as grief. Here, Harlequin Jones proves they can be just as cutting as they are poetic.

And yet, for all the genre-blending and sonic experimentation, what makes TRUST YOURSELF truly hit is its commitment to truth. There’s no pandering, no polish, no attempt to sugarcoat the brutality of living in a body that’s betrayed by systems meant to heal it. Amanda’s lyrics are sharp, specific, and raw—an exposed nerve rather than a carefully curated persona.

TRUST YOURSELF isn’t just an album title—it’s a hard-won mantra. It's about refusing to be gaslit by doctors, society, or anyone else who tells you your experience isn’t real. It's about learning to trust your own gut when the world tells you to stay quiet. And most of all, it’s about surviving—and making art out of that survival.

For fans of Amanda Palmer, Rasputina, or early Kate Bush, there’s something eerily familiar here. But Harlequin Jones isn’t imitating anyone—they’re carving their own lane with blood, sweat, and vibrating piano strings.

If you’re someone who’s ever been dismissed, misunderstood, or made to feel small—TRUST YOURSELF will find you. It’s a lighthouse for the chronically ill, the emotionally exhausted, the beautifully bitter. It’s miserable music for miserable people—and that might be exactly what this world needs more of.

TRUST YOURSELF carries a powerful message, especially given your experiences with medical gaslighting and chronic illness. What was the turning point for you when you realized you had to stop listening to others and start trusting your own instincts?

It was about 20 years until any professionals would take me seriously. I gave up at one point and stopped asking for help because there was none. Thankfully, eventually, I started looking for answers again and found a doctor who proved all my suspicions right. I would have made so much more music and art if there wasn’t such neglect and mistreatment when I was asking the right questions the whole time! I remember having a couple of really bad live shows because I couldn’t really support myself upright or use my core fully to support strong singing. The TRUST YOURSELF mantra isn’t just about fighting medical gaslighting, but standing up for yourself and trusting your gut in tough situations. It’s always right! Pay attention to your instincts. 

There’s a beautiful duality in your music—both theatrical and raw, poetic and painfully real. How do you strike that balance between performance and vulnerability in your songwriting and production?

The performances were vulnerable because I had the space to record alone or with my husband/bandmate engineering. I wanted the album to feel extremely authentic and I’m grateful to have the time and space to create it. I produced the album so the authenticity is a singular vision with no outside influences . I made the album exactly how I wanted it to sound, so if it sounds authentic it’s because it’s my real life experience. 

“Busted Flush” and “Inconsistent Existence” are incredibly specific in their emotional detail. Were there any songs on this album that were especially difficult—or therapeutic—to write?

Inconsistent Existence was incredibly difficult. Busted Flush is therapeutic. I think Inconsistency is hard because it’s very specific to the chronic illness and the life it takes away. It’s sadness, its rage, it’s bitter. It’s hard to play, it’s hard to sing, and it was hard to record. But I love the way it came out. You can hear the work put into it. Now that I think of it, there is a line that Is therapeutic to sing near the end. “Where’d my life go? I’m too young to be this old.”

Busted Flush has less rage and is more just hurt and frustrated about how my future turned out, despite what I tried to plan for or emotionally wasn’t strong enough to fight against.  I listen to music constantly. Obsessed. There’s music for every mood and occasion. I know when there’s no music I want to hear or can relate to, I’m in trouble. The line in the chorus, “There’s no music to fit the grief of a busted flush,” feels really good to sing because I finally was able to convey one of my strongest thoughts that I couldn’t figure out how to articulate for a long time. I like all the lyrics to that song. 

After years of starts and stops, you’ve finally released a full-length album. What does TRUST YOURSELF represent to you as an artist beyond the music itself?

We made so many different demos and had to put things on hold so many times, the real takeaway is the accomplishment of FINISHING a huge project that seems impossible. I was never really proud of a project as much as than when we completed this one. 

Cute story: We had a whiteboard where we’d keep song notes. I was watching the cartoon Sailor Moon one night, as grown adults do, and Sailor Moon said, “You can do hard things!!” I drew a little picture of her on the whiteboard saying that and looked at it all the time. So we can basically thank cheery Sailor Moon and her friends for helping to finish this dark album

You’ve said you make miserable music for miserable people—what has the response been like from others going through similar health challenges or emotional struggles? Have you found a connection through that shared experience?

Yes! People with similar challenges have told me they could relate and have been very supportive! I think one of the motivators that led me to finally complete the album was knowing there were online communities and support groups that I knew I could appreciate. The topics are bigger than me. It’s not the most accessible type of music, but the messages are.