(Self-released, digital)
There’s no prison as tough to escape as one’s own mind. That predicament is an unspoken theme running through Jesse Taylor Band’s new album, feel everything.
From opening track “spring” to the album’s coda, “alchemist,” the record follows Taylor’s insecurities, fears, hopes, retreats and reemergences. It’s a naked, utterly confessional album that spares no blushes.
“Back on my bullshit smoking cigarettes / trying to make enough to pay the rent,” Taylor sings on “stew,” the second track. “My head and my apartment are such a mess / and I’m feeling down on myself again.”
The vast majority of the songs on feel everything are about Taylor doing exactly that: searching for herself through a dark forest of emotion, at times incredibly gentle and loving to herself, and others, less so.
On the Burlington singer-songwriter’s previous release, 2021’s ever-changing EP, she and her band dwelled in a pop-punk-adjacent alt-rock zone, which was a shift from her even earlier Americana-tinged material. With this latest offering, it feels as if Taylor has finally found the right lane for her and bandmates Nick Treis (guitar), Ian Greenman (bass) and Carlton Yost (drums).
feel everything is an excellently blended piece of indie rock, capable of pushing into pop melodies or getting a little more aggressive in a way that always serves Taylor’s songs. On the album’s lead single, “procrastination queen,” the band is perfectly balanced, with a tightness and interplay developed over the past five years of gigging and releasing singles.
Fusing a driving groove, ’90s alt-rock and Treis’ spy movie-ready guitar lick, “what does it feel like?” is one of the record’s standout tracks. You can hear shades of Phoebe Bridgers and the Sundays in Taylor’s writing, but her vocal style has become more idiosyncratic since her early work, when reviews compared her singing to that of No Doubt’s Gwen Stefani.
Produced by Madaila’s Jer Coons at his studio in Jericho, the album drips with Taylor’s sugary melodies and stacked harmonies. Coons builds her voice into a gorgeous chorus on “saturn,” then leaves it alone on the verses of “next thing i know” to deliver a more intimate performance. The rhythm section of Greenman and Yost is in lockstep on the track, riding a steady groove while Treis peeks out with some rather tasty guitar.
“Like caffeine, nicotine, sweet treats, THC / exercise, your dick in me, attention from the screen / compliments, the male gaze, self-care, I’m in my way,” Taylor sings on “still the same,” giving herself some tough love about her tendency to self-sabotage.
By the end of the record, there’s a sense that Taylor has reached a place of both understanding and acceptance. She’s an emotional mess sometimes, sure, but she’s starting to think she wouldn’t have it any other way.
“I am an alchemist / I can transform,” she sings on “alchemist.” “If I didn’t feel everything / I think I’d be quite bored.”
feel everything is available at jessetaylor.bandcamp.com and other major streaming services.
This article appears in June 17 • 2026.
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