Jack Van Cleaf has shared “Smoker,” his grungy folk-rock single, and the official music video directed by Sam Lindsey. “Smoker” is featured on his forthcoming sophomore album, JVC, releasing May 9 via Dualtone Records. Planting its flag halfway between the worlds of indie rock and Gen Z folk, it asks big questions about identity, home, and adulthood. The album is the culmination of a journey that began during his teenage years. “This album is all about the vertigo of growing up, It’s about re-defining and re-understanding yourself.”
On the Baerd-produced track specifically, Jack stated, “Smoking is something I’ve put down and taken breaks from but come back to fairly consistently since I was sixteen. I remember having this conversation with a co-worker and realizing one day “Oh, I’m a ‘smoker.’” It made me think about what I would’ve thought of myself as a little kid, because “smokers” scared me back then. The term felt foreign to me. The first image in the song looks at teenagers standing around a grocery store parking lot; I imagine them smoking cigarettes; they have tattoos and pierced ears, any of these things that apply to me now. The song is cataloging all the life you’ve lived in a way, some of which you might not be the most proud of — reckoning who you are now with who you were as a kid and who you thought you’d be when you grew up — recognizing the differences — wondering what needs to change.”
With JVC, Jack Van Cleaf turns personal experience into something universal: a soundtrack to the years we all spend in existential free-fall, and while he finds gravity in the chaos, he has also made an album set to establish him as one of the biggest breakout singer-songwriters of his generation.
Jack has also announced a spring tour kicking off April 3 through May 21 with stops including New York, Nashville, Chicago, Austin, and more; plus support by special guests Ethansroom and Emma Ogier. For more info, visit www.jackvancleaf.com/#tour.
