On her fourth album, Cocksure, Laura Stevenson’s songs began showing a fondness for bombast. This is not to say her previous records lacked punch, but it often came by way of somber songs that, even at their most poppy, would features lines like, “Oh deary, your mother’s got a fever / And clearly your daddy’s gonna leave her.” While her biting lyrics remain, the songs on Cocksure are bouncy even when she’s being self-deprecating. The A.V. Club is premiering the video for “Jellyfish” below, a song that emphasizes Stevenson’s propensity for taking herself down—quantifying herself as “A piece of shit“—but the music is full-on bliss. It’s hard to watch Stevenson and her backing band dance around in front of a green screen and not be taken with the song’s inherent joy, even if it’s earned through a few barbs aimed at herself.
Cocksure is out today on Don Giovanni Records.