JEHNNY BETH: "YOU HEARTBREAKER, YOU" INTERVIEW

With the release of her explosive second solo album You Heartbreaker, You, Jehnny Beth sat down with Australian Musician’s Greg Phillips to discuss the record’s raw intensity, creative process, and her ongoing artistic evolution. Fresh from supporting Queens of the Stone Age and unveiling the chaotic new video for Out Of My Reach, Beth described how the album was born out of the visceral energy of live performance. “Performing live has always been at the heart of my creative process,” she explained. “This record really began on stage.” Working closely with long-time collaborator Johnny Hostile at their 20L07 studio in France, Beth shaped an album that’s abrasive yet cathartic, a sonic collision of shoegaze, hardcore, and emotional truth. She credits American hardcore bands such as Fugazi and Converge, along with New York’s Quicksand, as key influences on the album’s aggressive textures. “I wanted to put the electric guitar front and centre again,” she said, reflecting on how those intense, physical performances shaped her vision. Discussing the album title, Beth revealed that You Heartbreaker, You came from a lyric in the song Obsession and evolved into a wider reflection on modern existence. “The world is a heartbreaker,” she said. “Living with something broken, like breathing with a broken rib, is something we can all relate to. If your heart’s broken, it means it’s working.” In the studio, Beth channelled the same emotional precision. Before recording powerful tracks like Broken Rib, she found inspiration in Faith No More’s Mike Patton. “I listen to him before singing, his breathing, the way he shifts between textures so quickly,” she said. “There’s so much heart in what he does.” Beth also spoke about the importance of silence and presence in her creative practice. “Music comes from silence,” she reflected. “If you can’t hear the silence, you can’t create the sound. The music already exists, it just goes through me.” She recently revisited In Dreams: The David Lynch Project alongside Australian performers Sophia Brous, Kirin J Callinan and Mick Harvey, describing it as “a beautiful reminder of how much I love singing.” #australianmusician #jehnnybeth Australia, she added, holds deep personal significance, it’s where she first performed sober, during Savages’ 2014 Melbourne show. “That night changed everything for me. I could really hear the audience for the first time,” she said, adding that she’d “love to return” to perform the new material. Looking ahead, Beth is preparing for a run of sold-out UK and European shows, new film work in France, and upcoming collaborations with artists she admires.