JASSS’s new album Eager Buyers blends trip-hop, dub, and post-punk textures, drifting between chaos and calm, heavy with emotion yet sharply focused. Shaped by intuition and the noise of the world around her, the album is abstract but grounded in feeling. Released on her own label, AWOS, we caught up with JASSS to talk about collaboration, process, and how the record came together across years of change.
Eager Buyers, has recently been released. How does it feel for it to be out in the world for people to hear?
JASSS: I guess by the time a project comes out, you kind of listen to it so many times and have gone through a lot of processes with it. But, I don’t know, you’ve almost already done that processing element of it, and lots of people have heard it before the public have heard it.
The album seems to deal with collapse, longing, uncertain futures. What prompted you to explore that?
JASSS: I guess it was out of necessity, or a mix between — I was just exploring, and that was a really overpowering theme in my surroundings. So it’s impossible that it doesn’t leak into the overall meaning of whatever I’m doing, since I was consciously trying to follow an instinct or something. So everything is very much cluttered by the state of affairs. When you process things in life, you kind of naturally feel like you want to express that in the art you create.
So, is the album you processing these emotions, or just reflecting what’s happening in the world?
JASSS: I don’t know if I’m translating because it’s hard to be specific about what it is about, because it’s very abstract. And I guess using capitalism as an umbrella, or just as a word, it’s just that lately I’ve been repeating this so much — I’m just drinking or channeling, probably the same thing that you feel. And when I have to boil it down and put it in words, a simplistic way of talking about it is capitalism, or referring to Mark Fisher, or something like that. But it’s really abstract. Maybe the type of person who would listen to it would also be worried about this stuff, because stylistically there’s an archetype, but it doesn’t have lyrics, you know. It’s abstractly an invitation to get out of the system, or something.
Was producing the album difficult because of these feelings, or did it flow easily?
JASSS: It was relatively difficult, but only relatively, because I still had some stems from very old recordings, and I feel like the ghost within those recordings was very useful. That was very much pulling me already in a certain direction, because those tracks felt really true to this day, even if they were very old and incomplete. Completing them now, I found a lot of sense of meaning while making it.
You move through a lot of genres — did they marry together easily?
JASSS: I think how it works is I’m looking for a sound in order to make a sentence, and just like subconsciously I end up in a spectrum. Sometimes it’s like in this area, sometimes it’s in that area, and it just takes a little tweak until they blend or are speaking to each other in a way that feels right. I’m not searching for a specific type of sound.
On “It’s A Whole”, you collaborate with James K and Alias Error. How did that happen?
JASSS: They were at the studio and we were just hanging out. I met Alias Error recently, but I’ve known Jamie for so many years. She was in town, they both came to my studio, we were just hanging out, recording some stuff — actually for other songs, or browsing through my projects of bits and pieces that were open. They were basically recording stuff on top. And we’d record, then sit down and chat, then record again. It was very chill. I obviously love both of them.
This is your first album since 2021 – have you been working on Eager Buyers since then?
JASSS: I had a big break after COVID to get my life together. Eventually, I could have intermittent long periods in the studio — that’s how I made it. The record has pieces from almost a decade inside.
When listening back to old pieces, do they feel like diary entries?
JASSS: Yeah, absolutely. It takes me back to that time in my life.
Do any of the tracks that feel like the heart of the record?
JASSS: Maybe “The Mob Expects Malnutrition”. It’s really short, very intense and sad. I didn’t want to put effort into arranging it — just a spike of sadness. I enjoyed the dialogue with myself to leave it like that.
The album was released on your label, AWOS. How’s that process been?
JASSS: It’s exciting. It’s very early days, but it’s very exciting to get to choose, or collaborate, or at least be in the one that makes the request to cover it with the other — to be able to host, in a way, for other people.
Do you plan to release only your own music, or have other artists?
JASSS: I’ll have other artists.
Do you have a vision for the sound or aesthetic of the label?
JASSS: It’s hard to describe, but it’s really whatever has a certain type of resonance. Sometimes you also get attracted to things you don’t know exactly how they make you feel. It’s like looking for feelings like that.
AWOS also has audiovisual ambitions?
JASSS: Everything’s in the making. It’s independent; people are busy. We’re working on textiles, objects, prints, more music, and events. Everything is at an early stage.
How do you feel most creative? Do ideas come out of the blue?
JASSS: Ideas come all the time. Most are abstract; you can’t write them down. If I had musical notation training, maybe I’d remember them. But I don’t. They might store themselves and appear whenever.
DJing vs producing — how do you see the difference?
JASSS: Producing is very self-serving, introspective. DJing is symbiotic, for other people. Producing is like a washing machine — very insular. DJing is dialogue, high intensity.
Does producing feel more vulnerable?
JASSS: Exactly. DJing is about appreciation, humility. Producing is more exposing. But when releasing music, it’s about acceptance — if I like it, that’s enough. What’s the worst that can happen? Someone dislikes it? Fine.
How do you balance DJing, producing, and the label?
JASSS: Mondays are sacred, like Sundays. Cooking, walking, resetting. Tuesday back to work. Respect yourself or you burn out.