Mr Little Jeans Shares ‘Better Days’ Album; Listen To “Blitz”
June 3, 2022 BY Penny Palmer
With more than 132 million global streams to date, critically acclaimed Norwegian musician Mr Little Jeans (aka Monica Birkenes) releases her highly anticipated sophomore album, Better Days, today via Nettwerk. She also shares “Blitz,” the next single from the album; watch visualizer HERE.
“Writing ‘Better Days’ has been a rollercoaster of a journey for me. I wrote the songs over time, so I’ve experienced (along with the rest of the world for parts of it) my better days in the past, the present, and the future. Overall, the album represents how fleeting everything is, the good, the stable, the joyous, the challenging, the bad, and the ugly. After a few especially rough couple of years, I’ve become quite excellent at savoring and celebrating the good times. My biggest challenge is to remind myself of the transience during the bad times, as those too shall pass. I think,” adds Monica Birkenes.
Produced by a team of talent, including longtime collaborators Drew McFadden and Leon Jean-Marie, alongside Tim Anderson (Banks, Halsey) and Aron Forbes (Billie Eilish, King Princess, Olivia Rodrigo), the albumis altogether a more dynamic, more hair-raising record, complete with shuddering bass synth, ice-cold trap drums, and a surprising, enveloping sense of space.
Better Days plays like a true emotional journey and arrives towards the tail end of a tumultuous few years in which her entire life was thrown into disarray, but, as ever, music offered a path back from the brink: a way to reinterpret the nightmares that had plagued Birkenes’ life and a way to reaffirm the creativity that’s always been a guiding light. The album’s title is a tonic — a reminder that better days can be found even in times of darkness.
Previously released tracks “Intentions,”“Better with You,”“Lazy Love,”“Paper Vows,”“Jump To Fall,” and “Forgetter”are all off Better Days. This album is a testament to Birkenes’ strength as a songwriter and vocalist and dives into undoing the trauma and disgrace that life heaps upon us from a young age. It’s a record about fighting to get through and the sunlight that awaits on the other side. The definitive document by a pop artist whose absence has been sorely felt, it’s a testament, an album defined by virtuosity and spirit.
Better Days is available now via Nettwerk. Listen to the album HERE.
Track List:
1. In Spite Of Me
2. Blitz
3. Forgetter
4. Lazy Love
5. Better with You
6. Paper Vows
7. After Midnight
8. Better Days
9. Intentions
10. Jump to Fall