Mr Little Jeans Shares “Intentions” From ‘Better Days’ Album (Out June 3)
April 22, 2022 BY Penny Palmer
Norwegian musician Mr Little Jeans (aka Monica Birkenes) reveals a timely new single and music video entitled “Intentions” today. It serves as the next single from her highly anticipated sophomore album, Better Days, out on June 3 via Nettwerk.
On the track, her delicate vocals glide over glassy beat-craft and lush synths. Barely bottling the anxiety of climate change’s impending chaos, her voice echoes on a soft, yet striking plea, “Hold me for a second.” It illuminates the nuances of the artist’s idiosyncratic creativity, unfolding yet another layer of her enigmatic vision.
Regarding “Intentions,” she commented, “This is a song about our planet, global warming, my fears for the future, and also my shame for standing by doing very little to change the trajectory of where we’re headed.”
For the music video, she teamed up with Tracy Antonopoulos (Blood Orange, Opening Ceremony, A.P.C.). This marks a creative reunion as Tracy notably directed Mr Little Jeans’ last official music video for “Lazy Love” earlier this year.
Tracy added, “With this video, I wanted to explore the false sense of security that taking refuge in the material world can briefly provide. I wrote the idea for the video before knowing that Monica’s song references global warming, and think our ideas both explore the uncertainty that lives under the surface of our everyday lives.”
Watch “Intentions” Official Music Video HERE:
“Intentions” follows previously released tracks “Better with You,” “Lazy Love,” “Paper Vows,” “Jump To Fall,” and “Forgetter” – all off Better Days – an album that is a testament to Birkenes’ strength as a songwriter and vocalist and dives into undoing the trauma and disgrace that life heaps upon each of 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.
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 album is 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, even in times of darkness, better days can be found.
“The record might come across darker as I’ve come more into my own,” Birkenes says. “I like to acknowledge the darker side of things in my music, but ‘Better Days’ is cautiously optimistic. It’s very much me through and through.”
Better Days is available on June 3 via Nettwerk. Pre-save the album HERE.
Track List:
- In Spite Of Me
- Blitz
- Forgetter
- Lazy Love
- Better with You
- Paper Vows
- After Midnight
- Better Days
- Intentions
- Jump to Fall
