Jacqueline Hackett hails from New York City as a singer-songwriter, and college dropout. Jacqueline's father was a hair-metal-guitar-playing music enthusiast and her mother, a poet. It was through this confluence that she was introduced to an array of artists at a young age and her budding passion for music was ignited.
Exploring themes of love, loss, death, and religion through a nostalgic lens, she connects to her audience through unfiltered lyricism and acute moments of vulnerability.
Serenading us in a charismatic offering of pure opulent bliss, Jacqueline Hackett douses listeners in her most recent single, “The Rest of the World Could See.” The elusively flowing soundscape allows for the tempo of the beating drums to remain prominent as the robust guitar licks delicately lure us into an Alternative Folk fusion of fervency.
Jacqueline Hackett’s honeyed vocals cascade upon the musical arrangement like butter on toast. She is gentle with the poignant essence she emits, yet powerful with the manner she conveys each intricately crafted word. You can’t help but gravitate towards each word she theatrically inflicts with an overflow of soul. The buoyant spirit that structures her zealous persona remains prevalent to the harmonious bliss she sheds upon us.
“The Rest of the World Could See,” is a prime example of the wide vocal range she rides so effortlessly. As we find ourselves floating upon the descriptors that simulate an environment of familiarity onto our mental canvas, Jacqueline Hackett can be heard dissecting a narrative of crossing paths with a person who reminds her of someone she used to know and love.
Pouring out a script that is brilliant to its core, we now know the beauty behind the pain Jacqueline Hackett radiates.
Welcome to BuzzMusic, Jacqueline Hackett, and congratulations on the release of, “The Rest of the World Could See.” With such an in-depth look into a narrative that feels so personal to you, could you please take us into the creative process that brought this song to life?
“The Rest of the World Could See,” was honestly written at such a weird time. I was 19, settling into a new life with my then-partner and begrudgingly still in college while also in a phase of grappling with a lot of endings and heavy loss. I was super hyper-aware of the amount of loss I had gone through and it seemed like I was surrounded by a world that would only obnoxiously remind me of it all every chance it got. It was sort of overwhelming and for a while, I couldn’t quite articulate that feeling, until one day, it just kind of came out after having a super difficult conversation with a friend. The song is really just snippets of that conversation and me looking back at everything I had admired about that person while coming to terms with time just doin’ its vicious thing and ending a relationship I had really held onto dearly for a long time. So ya know, I sat down with my guitar, I put it together, recorded a demo, and put it on SoundCloud, soon got connected to Quinn Devlin who produced it and then the magic just sorta happened.
What are you hoping to reiterate to your listeners from the release of “The Rest of the World Could See?"
I’m not sure that there’s a particular message here that I’m trying to get across to listeners, but rather just trying to create a space to introduce myself as an artist. This is a song that I’d play at gigs before the lockdown that was always really well received so it just made sense to me to have this be my debut single. I want listeners to get the chance to settle into my voice, my songwriting, and overall sound to then make a decision for themselves on whether they’ll continue to follow me as an artist or not. And of course, have it resonate on some level.
Do you find that being in New York City has shaped your sound at all? What is the music scene like in NYC?
Hmm, that’s really interesting to think about. I think my music is such a weird genre crossover in a way. The track keeps getting described as “alt-country,” which is such a questionable term in its own way. But overall country music, in general, is definitely not something you’d associate New York City with. However, I don’t think I’d really lean into that sound if it weren’t for this DIY scene here in Brooklyn. Before I strictly saw myself as a folk songwriter with a guitar and that’s about it, until working with Quinn and everyone else involved- I was comfortable and confident enough to take it one step farther. I think that’s always been the beauty of the scene here in NYC though, there’s no one sound anyone’s ever been limited to. Your music can go in any direction and it’ll be embraced.
Throughout your artistic career, what has been your proudest moment to date?
It’s hard to sort of pinpoint one particular moment that’s my proudest, to be honest. I’m just proud to be doing what I’m doing and committing to it. I’m proud of myself for really going after music as a full-time thing. For a while I felt really stuck and discouraged, being in school for something completely separated from music was really disheartening and in a way felt like I was giving up on it. I’m proud that I did what I had to do to sort of force myself into music despite how terrifying it is.
What's next for you?
I have an EP that is set and ready to go, along with the fact that these past few months I have been writing more than I have in a long time. It’s always exciting and wonderful to have personal experiences sort of just bloom into these songs. I’m also so super eager to start doing live shows and just have audiences familiarize themselves with me as an artist.
Comments