As a vocalist for the cult-favorite Brooklyn group Ava Luna, Becca Kauffman always reveled in their kookiness. From their whoops in “Sears Roebuck M&Ms” to the whimsical spoken-word of “Steve Polyester,” Kauffman’s unpredictable personality helped push the group’s wildest songs over the finish line. Kauffman has further explored this potential under the alter ego Jennifer Vanilla, an alias under which they have made tongue-in-cheek electronic music that parodies the campy advertisements and fitness classes that once dominated pop culture.
On their 2017 compilation This Is Jennifer, the music itself reflected this time period: disco, house, a track built almost entirely from a slo-mo “Heart of Glass” sample. If that collection was a comic pastiche, then 2019’s J.E.N.N.I.F.E.R. EP showed a more serious reverence for dance music—and now their debut album, Castle in the Sky, picks up where the EP left off. “Dancing is an expression of emotion/Often a kind of aspiration/Toward complete physical wellbeing and fulfillment,” they recite breathlessly over a piano-house beat in “Body Music.” With production from longtime collaborator Brian Abelson, who co-produced and co-wrote the album, they push beyond their comfort zone, experimenting with jazzy saxophone solos and genres like dance-punk and R&B.
When Castle in the Sky brings the fun, it’s largely due to Kauffman’s production choices and their vocal inflections. Instead of sanding over the rough edges, they leave these songs just a tad herky-jerky. Synth pads echo lopsidedly; drum machines thwack goofily. They never take anything too seriously, even when they sound like they’re reciting mantras. When they exclaim “We’re going down in the wrong direction!” atop the midnight dancefloor throb of “Take Me for a Ride,” they snarl and over-emphasize their words. “Consider this an invitation/I’ll be your guide,” they sing in a nasal trill before a repeated chorus of “on and on” distorts and bends in every direction.
Over Castle in the Sky’s four-year genesis, Kauffman came to realize they are gender-fluid and nonbinary, and that Jennifer Vanilla has always been an outlet to explore their queer identity. Castle in the Sky’s personal moments feel tethered to this journey, albeit indirectly. “Humility’s Disease,” a janky venture into dance-punk, explores internalized shame and the difficult process of outgrowing it: “Was I built with a born sense of wrongness?” they ask. “Are you rigid, are you open to learning?” On the R&B ballad “Cool Loneliness,” they navigate the dissonance between how they feel on and off stage. In these songs, you can hear Kauffman letting their guard down as the trappings of their persona mostly recede to the background. It’s a compelling glimpse into the internal strife beneath the glossy veneer of the music.
Castle in the Sky is at once Kauffman’s most vulnerable project and their most confident. This self-assurance is clearest on “Jennifer Pastoral,” a track so slapstick that, in lesser hands, it might have been a mess. Instead, Kauffman structures it as a grasp toward utopia, its tropics-infused, brass-flanked shuffle never dimming in catchiness over its five-minute runtime. “I’m a sandman/I’m a night butterfly,” they sing sweetly during the chorus, and sure, it sounds ludicrous. But you just know they mean it.
