We’re paying special attention to what Jade Bird is releasing this year, not just because we’re fans, but because we know we’ll hear it live this year at XPoNential Music Fest. She’s one of the first artists we announced for the fest, and she has a new single out now, “Burn The Hard Drive.” The crushing song foretold Bird’s breakup from her fiancee and touring mate in 2022 before the couple called it quits. Bird looked back on lyrics like “There’s no good goodbye, no right way to die,” and thought, “Oh my god this was a premonition of ending my relationship.”
“Burn The Hard Drive,” accordingly, recalls the feeling of wanting to erase painful memories. If “the mind is just a hard drive,” as Cassandra Jenkins would agree, then Jade Bird wants to format it. In a press statement, Bird compares the messaging in “Burn The Hard Drive” to the plot of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, where you can expunge an entire relationship history from your brain.
Bird returns to her well of breakup material for “Burn The Hard Drive,” as evidenced from her 2021 XPoNential set, but what’s changed is her attitude. She’s calm instead of fiery, and employing new, electronic tricks–with the help of producer Mura Masa–instead of her past country-style, straightforward execution.
Get familiar with new music from Jade Bird below, and get your tickets to XPoNential ’24 here.