Detroit’s Jax Anderson grew up surrounded by the sounds of music and Motown. More than simply absorbing the sounds of the city she was born into, Anderson had her father, his nine siblings, plus two older brothers of her own, each playing instruments and singing all around her. When she first started to follow in the family footsteps, she launched Flint Eastwood as a Western rock band. After a sojourn in rural Georgia and then Los Angeles, Anderson returned to the Motor City with a newfound appreciation for pop sounds.
She reinvented Flint Eastwood as a solo alternative pop project, launching this new incarnation with the 2013 EP, Late Nights In Bolo Ties, which has since sold out. The effort’s vibrant electronic pop gained her an array of fans, leading to performances alongside the likes of Mayer Hawthorne, Foxy Shazam, and Betty Who. Now, she’s finally following it up with her latest EP, Small Victories.
“After two years of ups and downs and victories both big and small, I’m so excited to get these songs out into the world,” Anderson tells Consequence of Sound. In a press release, she explained that the driving idea behind the EP comes from knowing that “doing anything creative in life takes a lot of persistence, struggle, and hustle. It’s easy to expect that the spoils will come easily and be immediately fruitful. But if you focus on the little things, the ‘small victories,’ you realize that it’s those things that are the most rewarding. That’s what keeps me going.”
This mentality is all over the EP. From the hands-in-the-air positivity of the title track to the creeping reassurance of “Monster”, Anderson has crafted a six-track effort that perfectly encapsulated her mantra. Even on dance-ready cuts like “Oblivious”, there’s not that oppressive amount of noise that can often overcrowd pop music. Instead, Flint Eastwood revels in atmospheric reverberations, as on the standout track “Glitches”. Nothing is sparse, but nothing is excessive either, a carefully crafted group of songs that stays both compelling and contemplative. Take a listen below.
