Written by: Oliver Heffron
Jaxxon D. Silva earns the title of “emo pioneer.” While most of the pop-punk/hip-hop music flooding the airways nowadays sounds derivative and glossy, Jaxxon creates something new within this subgenre by surrounding his warm vocal melodies with grimey textures and lo-fi atmospheres, creating a sound that harkens back to the gritty analog roots of both emo, grunge, and rap.
Since his start in 2017, which included his breakout collab with emo-icon Lil Peep on his debut Poor Thing EP, the multi-disciplinary artist has explored different leanings while retaining his distinct musical identity. While based in Los Angeles, his upbringing spent partially across the UK has influenced his unique incorporation of grime into the emo space, even collaborating with the great Skepta himself on the single “Lalaland.”
On his latest album, NUMBSKULL, Jaxxon D. Silva’s soothing vocals lead the listener through a misty sheen of gravely grunge guitars, refined lo-fi production, and gliding basslines. The lyrics match the production’s deep melancholy by describing the earth-shattering experience of falling out of love through biting contemplations and striking imagery. Unlike the low stakes, the guilty-pleasure appeal of other artists in the emo lane, NUMBSKULL does the name justice by presenting a pain that genuinely hurts but still feels good to pick at.
Jaxxon D. Silva sat down with Nuance to talk about his latest album NUMBSKULL and his innovative music video for “shooting in the dark:”
As Jaxxon describes, NUMBSKULL is about “falling out of love.” Through eight different shades, the tracklist narrates an emotional journey from intimate outbursts of love, betrayal, and self-loathing before progressing into a detached, externalized self-reflection: “It starts off with a lot of emotion, that feeling of love, but then towards the end, it dissipates and kind of goes through this tunnel to cope with what’s on the other end.” He describes the track “in vain” as feeling like it was written by another person: “that song is kind of like an out of body experience, which is like, it’s like me kind of looking at myself through a different lens.”
The album’s standout track, “shooting in the dark,” embodies the album’s themes saliently as Jaxxon delivers somber melodies about heartbreak and reflection over dense, muted guitars and a dusty beat. He flew out to Amsterdam for the music video, working with local directors to create visuals that reflected the project’s themes. Utilizing experimental lighting and shots through glass bottles:
Photo Courtesy of Raquel Figlo
“In my videos, I like to kind of create this abstract realm sometimes where it’s kind of dreamlike. So the video was more based around that like the techniques in like the kind of cinematic aspects rather than like a concept or narrative. We used the shadow play to tie in with the lyrics which is basically a song about hopeless romance. We just used those themes, like looking through a hole, to kind of create this atmosphere.”
While the music video for the album’s opener “one of those days” portrays Jaxxon D. Silva as a character he created on his first project, a monster marked by a white painted head with a black strip he describes as a “second side” of himself, “shooting in the dark” sees the artist revealing his true self: “what was interesting about that song and that video is it’s just me, like who I am, and speaking from that. I feel like that song summarizes the whole project in a way. So that’s why I wanted to just perform as myself rather than the character to try and tie things together.”
After making it this far by himself, recording in his bedroom, and mixing everything on his computer, Jaxxon D. Silva describes NUMBSKULL as a “real step forward for me,” in large part due to the expanded production. After knowing one another and separately working on their crafts for a decade, Jaxxon teamed up with ascending LA producer William Van Zandt to arrange and produce his most experimental and ambitious album to date:
“This time I was in the studio, we were making everything from scratch, coming up with inventive ideas like doing a cover and it was just a really free form kind of vibe. We were able to experiment with the production and the arrangement. On one of the songs I literally had the arrangement mapped out exactly; I had a vision. The chorus comes in first, and then drops out and then have the chorus the second time come in for twice as long–just intricacies that I wasn’t able to do working on like my laptop recording.”
While recording all the tracks in West Hollywood, the artist, and producer took to a French castle for the final touches and release of Jaxxon D. Silva’s first full-length release in two and a half years. Well worth the wait, NUMBSKULL marks a clear progression in his career by refining his voice and expanding his sound while doubling down on his vision, leaving the interpretation for everyone else: “I like the concept of the interpretation. I like to leave things open-ended. I don’t like to really give too much away.”