jasmine.4.t

The light still breaks through each morning. That’s the driving sentiment on You Are The Morning, the debut album from trans woman and singer-songwriter jasmine.4.t. Its title is dedicated to queer friendship, which she says saved her life. For her, queer people represent “a fresh start, new days which are beautiful and cosmic.” The album bursts with moments of love through its fingerpicked guitar, punk bombast, and raw vocal takes. You Are The Morning was formed amid personal upheaval in 2021. “I came out as trans to my nearest and dearest,” she says, “Some did not accept me, but some did.” Jasmine got divorced, and a difficult home life meant she was writing while experiencing homelessness and precarious housing, sleeping on friend’s couches and relying on community support. Despite the pain of some of its background, the record is an uplifting look at t4t love. Jasmine describes her first trans romance as the first time she experienced joy in a deep sense, because of her experience of living as a woman. “I was acting in a way I identified with, in the world,” she says. “That was the main source of inspiration, plus feelings of love and romance, and that being so heightened by the hormones.” Jasmine came to the guitar when her late uncle left his instrument to her. “He was a very close member of our family, and used to pick us up from school every day,” she says. “I'm autistic. I hyper-focused on guitar. It became my special interest for a long time.” Soon, she was playing her heroes’ songs from guitar books - but writing and playing have always gone hand-in-hand. “It typically starts with me crying into my phone as a voice memo,” she says. “I transcribe whatever I've come up with and write everything down as a stream of consciousness.” First single ‘Skin on Skin’ explores the new joy of physical touch. Usually a quick writer, it’s a rare song that grew over time. “I was still married at the time, though we’d taken a six-month break to have no contact and to see other people,” she says. “In that period, I was struggling with PTSD and didn’t think it was a good idea to be starting another relationship.” During this time, a close connection with a friend began to form. “Sticking to the physical boundaries we wanted to have with each other became increasingly difficult. We were spending lots of time together, then falling in love. This song became a celebration of healing and physical catharsis found through unrepressed queer love.” The song captures the instant rush of those feelings, as well as the complex ways that past experiences can be reshaped by the present, now that Jasmine’s ideas of love and connection have changed. The first UK signee on Saddest Factory Records, the album was produced by Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus. Jasmine and her band travelled to L.A. to record at Sound City Studios. It was made across 12 days in a highly collaborative and emotional process, and because Jasmine sees her songs as fluid and ever-changing, the recordings carry that free and spontaneous spirit.