Jennifer Castle’s “Crying Shame” spins hopelessness into a folk tearjerker

I first saw Jennifer Castle in the basement of a hotel in 2014, the same year she released her stunning, acclaimed fourth album Pink City. If memory serves, she played solo, sitting on the ground with her guitar. Her powerful, celestial voice gave her rich folk compositions even more distinction, and by the time she got to my favorite track of hers ,"Neverride," I was totally rapt.

On May 18, Castle will return with a new album for everyone to fall in love with, Angels of Death, and today The FADER is proud to host the online premiere of the LP's enchanting lead single "Crying Shame." Castle's silken vocals are grounded very much in the shit of everyday life, creating poetry out of personal crisis that never lapses into self-pity, as a bass obligingly droops along and piano chords crash like waves of vapor. “It’s easy to point the finger at others and cry blame," Castle writes about the song over email. "'Crying Shame' honours the long finger always pointing inward — tears spilling from the inner eye, etc.”

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