Video: Jenny O, ‘Old Habits’

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Jenny O. (Photo by Bryn Carter)

Jenny O.’s album “New Truth” is more about nuance than anything black-and-white, revealing the singer-songwriter’s negotiations with herself and the outside world in a mercifully conversational tone and a sublimely affecting singing voice.

The album, out Friday via Mama Bird Recording Co. after being pushed back from a June release, is the first since Jenny O. (born Jennifer Ognibene) suddenly and mysteriously lost hearing in her right ear in 2018. “I’m in mono now forever / it was there and now it’s gone / and God knows why,” she sings on the album opener “God Knows Why.”

Jenny O. forges ahead for 11 more songs, relatively unperturbed but typically evocative. “I Don’t Want to Live Alone Anymore” arrived presciently in April as the reality of the pandemic set in, setting the stage for more of her gently psychedelic folk-pop. With its harmonies and precise but understated instrumentation, “New Truth” arrives as the glowing fireside chat we need amid the harsh strobes of a shouting world. Even at its most melancholy, it hums with a spirit of resolve. That’s the truth.

As the final lead-in to the album’s release, Jenny O. this week unveiled the DIY video for “Old Habits,” which she made using just a green screen and some construction paper and animated herself.

Jenny O. will perform live on Instagram at 6 tonight.

||| Watch: The videos for “Old Habits” and “What About That Day”

||| Also: Stream the whole album here

||| Previously: “I Don’t Wanna Live Alone Anymore,” “God Knows Why,” “People,” “Work,” “Be Here Now”