Perhaps best known as the lead singer and guitarist for Portland indie rock band Summer Cannibals, Jessica Boudreaux suffered more than most in those tumultuous years from 2020 onwards. Facing the prospect of a long break in touring with Summer Cannibals, she was then diagnosed with cancer and thrown into an isolating routine of appointments and treatments. Thankfully, by the summer of 2023 she was in remission, but the psychological scars of the previous few years still weighed heavy.
In an attempt to heal those emotional wounds, Boudreaux signed up on a whitewater rafting trip for young cancer survivors, a trip which turned out to be transformative. Returning with what she describes as a “renewed excitement about life and expression,” Boudreaux was suddenly full of inspiration and an urge to create. “There was a fire under my ass,” as she puts it, “and then I kind of accidentally wrote an album.”
That album, titled The Faster I Run, will be released later this summer via Pet Club. Twelve indie rock songs that explore personal growth, the complicated process of healing and the restorative effects of creative pursuits. Two singles have been released so far, both of which display this cathartic and intimate style perfectly. Opener ‘Back Then’ looks back to the past from a hard-earned new perspective, not so much lingering on regret as blowing it away with a dose of bombastic rock swagger. Watch the Karlee Boon directed video below:
Follow-up track ‘Back Then’ feels like the album’s ethos distilled into three minutes, a series of dawning epiphanies that Boudreaux works through in near-real-time. “I wanna be somebody else,” she sings in the opening line, “don’t think these wounds are gonna heal themselves.” It’s messy and difficult but ultimately affirming, growing in strength and agency as it progresses. “I know a lot more about myself now… and it was exciting to write because I suddenly have access to all these different parts of myself that I didn’t before,” Boudreaux says. “Every song was a necessary part of healing, it’s genuinely the most that I have leaned on music to work through things. The whole record reflects on my past through an entirely new lens.”
I wanna believe things work out
I wanna feel my hope compound
To access kindness for myself
The kind of grace I’ve just tossed around
The Faster I Run will be released on 19th July via Pet Club. Pre-order it now from the Jessica Boudreaux Bandcamp page.
