Kevin Bronson on January 26th, 2023

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Catching up with new singles from Jenny O., Maraschino and Skofee …

JENNY O., “You Are Loved Eternally”

Keep this gem in your back pocket for when you (or a friend) are feeling blue: “You Are Loved Eternally” is an affirmation that sounds immediately timeless — it could have come from the hippy-dippy ’60s, or it could be something schoolchildren sing. What it is is the new single from Jenny O.’s forthcoming album “Spectra,” out Feb. 24. It follows releases such as “There Is a Club,” “Solitary Girl,” “The Natural World” and “Prism.” Jenny O. explains the song’s origin: “The phrase ‘You Are Loved Eternally’ was hand-painted on an old mirror frame in my friend’s grandfather’s cabin. Weeks after I visited in 2020, the cabin and everything it contained burned up in the Sequoia Complex Fire along with 10% of the world’s giant sequoias. I imagine that mirror reflecting a room of flames before it too was consumed — the 1950s furniture, local nature books, even the iron wood stove melted. At that time someone I love deeply was in trouble, in depressive peril. I wrote this song for them, for me, for everyone I know and don’t know. We get lost and fall disconnected from the warm glow of human connectivity, loving awareness, the web of life …” Woe be to us if we are ever not in the mood to hear this song.

MARASCHINO, “Angelface”

The follow-up to singles “Hi Desire” and “Smoke & Mirrors,” “Angelface” is the latest whiff of airy ’80s dance-pop from singer-songwriter Piper Durabo (ex-Puro Instinct). Her debut album as Maraschino, “Hollywood Piano,” will be out March 3. “‘Angelface’ is a love song for the underdogs who’ve given up on finding love, and a suggestion that sometimes the sweetest love stories are the ones we don’t see coming,” Durabo says. Catch Maraschino live on Feb. 17 at Non Plus Ultra.

SKOFEE, “I’m Sorry I Killed Your Plant”

After releasing three singles (including “Where Do You Hide Your Love”) last year, Anna Marie Scholfield, aka Skofee, will release a new EP, “Joyland,” on March 3. Co-written with and produced by Sam Vendig, “I’m Sorry I Killed Your Plant” an engaging slice of indie-pop sentimentalia. “I’m a little bit scared of this song,” Scholfield says. “It’s one of the more personal songs I’ve written, detailing the end of a relationship via the metaphor of killing a plant. … Working on this song was a primary source of happiness during a tough period of my life. I’m really grateful for what it gave me when I needed it and I’m proud of how honestly the lyrics reflect how I was feeling at that time.”