The Jezabels

Australian quartet the Jezabels bring an empowering, anthemic edge to indie pop. The lineup unites singer Hayley Mary, guitarist Samuel Lockwood, pianist and keyboardist Heather Shannon, and drummer Nik Kaloper; the four first connected at the University of Sydney in 2007, though Mary and Lockwood had already met years earlier while growing up together in Byron Bay. Guided by a socially conscious outlook, the group took its name from Mary’s belief that the biblical figure Jezebel had been misrepresented. Their initial recordings appeared as an EP trilogy that opened with 2009’s The Man Is Dead and She’s So Hard before concluding the following year with Dark Storm. Fueled by an unexpected blend of pop hooks and sweeping, introspective atmosphere, The Man Is Dead reached the CMJ Top 200 chart during summer 2009, launching a string of honors that included two Independent Music Awards nominations for She’s So Hard in 2010, “Hurt Me” being named song of the week in Australia, and Tegan and Sara inviting the quartet to support their Australian spring tour. Digital release of the debut album Prisoner followed in autumn 2011, with Rolling Stone drawing attention to the track “Trycolour.” Mom + Pop brought out the physical edition in early 2012, coinciding with the band’s main-stage appearance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival. The Jezabels returned in 2014 with Brink, an album that earned strong critical praise and climbed to number two on the Australian charts. Their third full-length, Synthia, surfaced in February 2016, though the group had already disclosed the cancellation of all touring dates because Heather Shannon was undergoing treatment for a rare form of ovarian cancer.