Photo courtesy of Camille Lenain

Sari Jordan has an inside joke with a friend that a debut album cover should always be the most attractive photo ever taken of an artist. That is exactly what they did for their EP, Sing to the Moon - an intensely intimate photo of themselves that they feel as though they are still coming back from giving their face away like that. For their full-length album, PERFECT BE THE ENEMY, they wanted art that could represent every theme sprinkled into the music.

Eli Pillaert had the exact art style that Jordan was looking for, and together they created a series of designs that best represent the themes. Five symbols chase each other on the album cover the same way they chase each other throughout the songs. The symbols would also get an individual moment to shine with each single released prior to the album.

Jordan released four singles - “FREAK”, “TABLE OF ANGELS”, “FANCY” and “GROW APART” - with the intention of introducing this body of work as their biggest challenge yet. The first two singles were meant to bridge a gap between their debut EP and debut LP. “FANCY” was released to test the audience and gauge their reaction to a song that was considerably different from their previous releases. “GROW APART” was described as the center of the messaging behind the album.

After releasing Sing to the Moon, they were immediately ready to move on to the next project. They wrote music consistently, with about a song a month being set aside for a full-length album. When they wrote “PERFECT BE THE ENEMY”, it was clear that would also be the name of the album. Jordan felt that the title was vague enough to cover a lot of ground and smart in a way that it was simple. Some of their favorite poetry involves taking a simple or recognizable concept and flipping it, and after hearing the phrase, “don’t let perfect be the enemy of good”, they knew it explained the theme of the album.

“What [the songs] all have in common is this thread of a point of view of optimism and of bravery and of facing a really hard truth,” they said. “But I’m looking at the truth from a lot of different angles and shrouding it in metaphor and trying to paint pictures of the truth so that it’s prettier to look at. The truth is imperfect; the truth is that growth is really messy and sometimes painful, but there’s also those moments of elation and joy. I think the record really just runs the gambit of that.”

The further removed Jordan became from the initial writing of these 11 songs, the more they realized that the emotions felt in that moment have begun to fade. The writing process was nearly three years ago, so now the songs have become more about how to best perform them.

“When I was writing them there was this strong sense of intoxication by my own spell that caused me to need to sit with the guitar and write until it’s done,” they said. “When I come back to them, I’m coming back to them sometimes from a place of those emotions but more often a very functional pragmatic place.”

They are also reconnecting with the songs themselves through their stories. Giving an audience a look into just how vulnerable they were in that moment of writing is giving over a piece of themselves.

This was their first time taking the reins as a producer. They have spent most of their time performing live, but this was their chance to better understand the recording process. Alongside Mack Major, mixing and editing the album was equal parts rewarding and taxing. Getting to the mixing stage meant they could hear all the hard work that had been done and finally see the form it had taken. Editing helped the songs feel more nuanced and dynamic.

Especially as they were gearing up for their album release show, Jordan could see just how much of an improvement they’ve made in their guitar playing. Learning how to be a studio guitar player was one of their biggest growth areas. They look back on their first live performance and can see how important it was to keep pushing themselves.