‘Age Carry’ is the debut solo single by Brooklyn-based Jane Lai, who also plays in New Jersey power pop band Teenage Halloween. Released via Lauren Records, the track introduces Lai’s DIY singer-songwriter aesthetic that sits comfortably alongside bedroom pop acts such as Frankie Cosmos and Free Cake For Every Creature.
It’s a song “about growing up too fast,” Lai tells Brooklyn Vegan, “and also remembering to validate the pain that happens in your youth as you grow older.” So though there’s a palpable nostalgia to the mood and lyrics, the track challenges rose-tinted reflection, working to prevent the washing of the past when one looks back and remembers. The wistful memories of listening to Told Slant on tape and burning onion rings in the microwave are joined by difficult relationships, the loss of friends, plus a more general, ubiquitous sadness which appears baked into the modern world. “It seems like we / cannot find another place,” Lai sings in the final verse. “We grow older, watch your friend cry, let my friend die, watch news to get by”:
Don’t you know a guy who knows a guy
Who believes in something called forgiveness
He says it’s too late to take it back
But he keeps you in backseat of his mind