With “I Know”, Jason Shand has crafted a letter of forgiveness to himself. One of the beautiful things about music is its ability to communicate emotions, but to also put us in the headspace of the performer. Jason Shand is a truly stirring soul, whose love of classic, inoffensive rock like Seal, Fiona Apple, but also more experimental and lyrically brutal performers like Radiohead has painted his music strongly, without it feeling like a cheap replication. In a lot of ways, it’s very synonymous to the latter band’s iconic “True Love Waits”, which is an asking eulogy to lead singer Thom Yorke’s deceased ex-partner.
WEBSITE: http://jasonshand.com/
“I Know” is many things. It’s a love letter to his partner (Shand was recently married), as well as a love letter to Shand himself. Something funny about many love songs we tend to forget is that while yes, we can assume the song is about someone, we tend to forget that we’re allowed to romanticize ourselves and to love ourselves and there’s something about this strong that strikes me as leaning towards the latter. Shand has admittedly had a bit of a tough past few years, and the result could have been a very hostile release. Having listened to a lot of his music in preparation, I don’t know if the man is capable of anger, more so he taps into melancholy. Have you ever heard a song that sounds like a rainy day? “I Know” is that kind of song.
It’s sobering and when Shand says lines like “Is it too late to touch you, to leave you, cause that is what I feel” and you can almost picture Shand looking at himself in the bathroom mirror, haggard and telling himself this. Shand’s voice certainly has a lot of comparative points to Seal’s. It’s soothing and filled with pathos, and it’s also so finely tuned. Shand produced this song, and I feel artists who do that always have the advantage of catering to their strengths safely, but Shand certainly experiments. “I Know” is one of his most bombastic tracks, at least by the end, and it feels like a cathartic release, like Shand is grabbing his coat, running through the rain, and living. It’s a song by a lover, for the lover in us all. There’s also a wonderfully contradictory element to the song and its title “I Know”. Shand says that he “knows” his uncertainty, just as well as he “knows” that he truly does love this person, and in turn himself.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/dancing-queen-i-know-prelude/1043698598?i=1043699028
Others might call it a wobbly narrative, but it’s one of the most human and introspective dissections I’ve heard in some time. The song isn’t perfect, however. It can feel slightly exhausting at points, but that might be by design to emphasize the realization that comes at the end. It sits around 5 minutes in length, and our shorter length sensibilities might get uncomfortable with that, but I think if you stick with it, it completely overtakes you and wins you over. It’s a track I know that I can’t recommend enough.
Claire Uebelacker
The music of Jason Shand has been heard all over the world in partnership with the radio plugging services offered by Musik and Film Radio Promotions Division. Learn more https://musikandfilm.com