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Every week, our critics spotlight notable new songs on <\/em>the Playlist<\/em><\/a>. Here\u2019s more about 11 artists behind them, selected by the pop music critics Jon Pareles, Jon Caramanica and Lindsay Zoladz; a culture reporter, Joe Coscarelli; and Caryn Ganz, the pop music editor for The New York Times. (Listen on <\/em>Spotify<\/em><\/a> and <\/em>Apple Music<\/em><\/a>.)<\/em><\/p>\n an interview with<\/p>\n Jensen McRae writes constantly: journals<\/a>, poems, fiction, screenplays and, most publicly, songs. \u201cI\u2019ve always wanted to do a million things with regard to writing and telling stories,\u201d she said. \u201cBut music was always the first choice.\u201d<\/p>\n Born in Santa Monica, Calif., and still based in Los Angeles, McRae, 27, joins a long history of California folk-pop songwriters \u2014 the legacy of the Laurel Canyon era \u2014 who draw on the diaristic specifics of their lives for songs that listeners take to heart. Her second album, \u201cI Don\u2019t Know How But They Found Me!,\u201d is due April 25, with a tour that starts in May.<\/p>\n As a child, \u201cI was usually one of the only Black kids in a class,\u201d McRae recalled in a video interview. \u201cWhen you\u2019re put into the observer, outsider position early on, it makes it pretty easy to figure out who you really are and what you really want, because conformity isn\u2019t a choice. I started to develop this identity of being a narrator and a collector of details about my life, about other people\u2019s lives.\u201d<\/p>\n McRae has old-school inclinations. Her music relies on hand-played, organic instruments and the power of her unadorned voice. Her 2022 debut album, \u201cAre You Happy Now?,\u201d included stark songs like \u201cWolves,\u201d<\/a> about sexual predators, accompanied only by her guitar.<\/p>\n But as a 21st-century performer, McRae maintains a robust social-media presence, sharing songs in progress<\/a> and hosting an interview podcast, \u201cWhat Were You Thinking?\u201d Her career has thrived on viral moments. At the height of the Covid pandemic in 2021, she posted a joking tweet<\/a> predicting that Phoebe Bridgers would write a song about \u201chooking up in the car while waiting in line to get vaccinated at dodger stadium\u201d \u2014 and then wrote the song herself, a Bridgers homage titled \u201cImmune.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n
\nJensen McRae<\/h2>\n