TESSA ROSE JACKSON
Tessa Rose Jackson chats to us about the songs that influenced her as she shares her brand-new single “The Bricks That Make the Building”, available on all platforms Sept 9th.
London based singer, songwriter, artist and composer Tessa Rose Jackson shares her brand-new single “The Bricks That Make the Building”, available on all platforms Sept 9th. The track is the first taste of her forthcoming fifth studio album, The Lighthouse, set for release on January 23rd, 2026. A haunting yet life-affirming reflection on ancestry and belonging, the single sets the tone for an album that embraces intimacy, mortality, and the celebration of life.
Aimee Mann - Save Me
The opening phrase to this song. Is so good. That high bass, the boxy drums. It immediately sets a scene, paints a picture. I discovered Aimee Mann through her beautiful soundtrack work for the film ‘Magnolia’ and it inspires me up to this day. Something about the way she weaves melodies, there’s a playfulness in them, they are structured like conversations sometimes. And the arrangements are so melancholy and bittersweet in a ‘let’s sing along happily even though we’re all kind of lost’ way that I love so much.
Ray Lamontagne - Be Here Now
I listened to the album ‘Till the Sun Turns Black’ endlessly as a teenager. This song is a masterpiece. The piano line, the tension and release. The whole song feels like it’s breathing in and out like a big animal, all together. Obviously Ray Lamontagne’s voice is insane and he could probably sing over grinding metal parts and it would still sound beautiful. There’s something about the way the harmony moves in this song that inspires me a lot. That one unexpected change on the chorus that just makes the skies open up and tears roll. Everything that happens in the arrangement aids that feeling. I also love the imperfection in the strings, they are almost a bit scratchy here and there, not silky romance strings, and that makes them even more moving.
Zero 7 - Home
I first heard this track when I was at BRIT School and a group of fellow students chose the play it as their end of year performance. I had never heard anything like it, especially the incredible chord change on the word ‘home’. This expansive warm glow that just washed out of it and over you. I think I still pursue creating chord changes like that one in my work to this day.
Feist - The Bad in Each Other
Anyone who knows me knows that Feist is one of my biggest musical heroes. This song opened so many little doors in my head. The earthy, woody quality to the sound. It’s cinematic, it’s bold. Leslie Feist uses her voice like no other artist I know, she is power and she is fragility and she is a little girl and a wise matriarch. This song is endlessly layered and I will never stop hearing new things in its tapestry.
Nick Drake - Pink Moon
I was late in discovering Nick Drake. As I believe the world was as well. I first heard Pink Moon on a soundtrack of a film and it totally intrigued me. Back then, I was quite picky in wanting albums to be very colourful and instrumentally dense and bounce around stylistically, and this album taught me the earth-shaking power of simplicity. I listened to it on headphones lying on my bed and wept all the way through. It was a big moment of musical education for me.
Beck - Think I’m in Love
I think there was a year in which I would only listen to Beck. Though I actually don’t think this is his best song (by far!), I was so obsessed with it for multiple reasons. It’s a lesson in simplicity, again. It is so sparse. That one note in the melody on ‘say so’ that carries the whole song through, like a little nugget that makes you prick up your ears and gives you just enough sugar to keep listening. That one sampled ‘boiiiing’ hit on the one that is just enough harmonic information somehow. It is just effortlessly cool. And Beck’s almost drawling, laid back delivery is just so alluring.
Laura Marling - Song for Our Daughter
Laura Marling is such a force of nature. I have learned a lot from her songwriting and especially her lyrics. She balances those ingredients so perfectly - the stark and the straight, and the poetic. She is fearless, and it shines through in her music. Song for Our Daughter has some pretty daring phrases in it, and she delivers them with such a confident, no nonsense tone in her voice that they hit home even more. I have felt personally spoken to by this song on many occasions, and this fearlessness is something I try to remind myself of when recording my vocals.
St. Vincent - Cruel
Again, another fearless female artist. Cruel is a great song. I love the way St. Vincent uses her voice, she has so many different textures and tones and she uses them all but it always feels very considered. Nothing is gratuitous, everything hits just right. It’s a very punchy, particular song and that makes it even more delicious. Her sticky, compact guitar tones are so nice and especially in contrast with the lush, romantic orchestral elements in this track it just makes it even more bad-ass. And that playful hook. Is just. So good.
Flyte - Tough Love
More recently, Flyte have been a very big influence in my songwriting. This song is deceptively simple, but when I learned to play it, it confused me for a second. Their choice of melody creates such a perfect little ‘crunch’ with the chords that makes it so infectious. I try to catch melodies like that myself when I write, especially in conjunction with a lyric that makes the crunch make sense. These lyrics are also just so powerful, and the harmonies make them fly even more.
Laurie Anderson - O Superman
I just love this piece. Laurie Anderson is someone I find unendingly inspiring, in the way she speaks about art and creativity. And life. This piece of music has such a calm assuredness to it. You will sit and listen. We will take our time. We have things to say. It’s playful, but so sad at the same time. And again, the arrangement is so sparse. The birds in the background (or are they bird-like synths? Or both?), I love them.