Review: Spacey Jane’s If That Makes Sense
Spacey Jane
If That Makes Sense
AWAL/Interscope
Fremantle’s indie darlings turned ARIA winners, Spacey Jane, are back with their third album If That Makes Sense.
Produced by Mike Crossey—yes, that Mike Crossey, the one name-checked in the liner notes of your favourite The 1975 album—with extra helpings from Jackson “Day Wave” Phillips and Sarah Aarons (who co-wrote Miley Cyrus’ Jaded), If That Makes Sense—is a soundtrack for those stretched-out, slightly sore days. The ones where it’s not quite heartbreak, not quite healing—just a heavy-lidded sort of limbo. Think: “Water me, darling, love is a garden”—a lyric that’s either eye-rollingly earnest or exactly what you needed to hear, depending on how long ago you blocked your ex.
But if you like things to make at least some sense, don’t stress—Spacey Jane gets it. They kick things off with a neatly labelled opener called, quite literally, Album Intro. Yes, really. It’s got all the utilitarian charm of a fork found in the kitchen: unexpectedly handy, slightly confusing, but somehow exactly right. A hushed, ambient soundbite that exhales into the first proper track, Through My Teeth, sets the tone with dreamy, reverberating drums and a familiar emotional tug. That rhythmic bounce you feel? That’s your knee involuntarily keeping time—don’t fight it.
Next up: Whateverrr. And yes, the triple r matters. Anyone fluent in keyboard knows that this kind of letter-stretching belongs in the same category as an all-caps rage text or a stress-smashed keyboard—loud, chaotic, and emotionally true. Sonically, it’s a dystopian-glam fever dream with an electro bassline that deserves to be talked about in capital letters. Lurking in the chorus is the album’s first nod to its low-key gardening motif—a thematic breadcrumb leading us towards the delightfully titled single How To Kill Houseplants. The lyric? “Remember the backyard sprinklers getting me wet.” Sexy? Sad? Nostalgic? All of the above.
I Can’t Afford To Lose You is practically begging to soundtrack a slow-motion breakup montage on Home and Away—and honestly, it’s a no-brainer. One of the album’s most stripped-back moments, it gives Caleb Harper space to wrestle, gently and vulnerably, with his avoidant tendencies. Then we’re catapulted into Bridge City with So Much Taller, a title that feels oddly on-the-nose in the best way possible—it soars, stretches, and stands on tiptoes to be heard.
Estimated Delivery earns its standout status by doing what Spacey Jane does best: sneaking heartbreak into a metaphor that feels both absurd and painfully accurate. Here, the death rattle of a relationship is likened to the waiting game of online shopping, tracking emotional damage like it’s coming via express post. And it finally lands on your doorstep in the melancholic crash of Falling Apart.
All up, If That Makes Sense proves Spacey Jane has dreamy pop down to a science—and while the sun might be out, emotionally we’re all just floating face-down in our sad feels.
RACHEL FINUCANE