Women who quilt are magic makers, steeped in history and enchantment, crafting visual stories of warmth and beauty while expressing the depth of the human experience and a particular kind of feminine strength. Eliza Hardy Jones, multi-instrumentalist, singer, songwriter, producer, and quilter, carries this kind of tender power into her songwriting on her forthcoming solo album, Pickpocket, due on Tuesday, April 19th.
The album, a mesmerizing indie-folk offering, is a testament to her multifaceted creativity. And the first single off the release, “This is the Year,” is a heartfelt journey through grief. There’s a rawness and a delicate beauty in her voice as she wraps the listener in her experience of pain, healing, and the quest for joy.
“‘This is the Year’ is a song I wrote about the hardest year of my life and how I made it through,” explains Jones. “It was a year of profound loss, and both physical and emotional ruin. It was a time where I found myself lost in my own grief. I wrote this song as a way to find my way out, to find my way back.”
In “This is the Year” Eliza sings:
“Grief is a pickpocket. Don’t see it coming ‘til it left you broke.
Grief is a stranger that steals everything you knew about yourself…”