There are certain experiences in this world that inexplicably make sense. Smothering peanut butter with jelly. Color-coordinating your bookshelves. Running out of shampoo and conditioner at the same time. They’re all things that are oddly satisfying; things that are just right. And Jill McCracken counts herself — and her listeners — among them.
Last year, the Boston artist emerged with a plea to be helped, held, and healed, but these days she finds herself doing all of the above, nourishing her mind with the self-sufficiency from her new single “just right.” Part soul tune, part tender pep talk, “just right” encourages listeners to take up space in a world that values shrinking ourselves over self-confidence. McCracken dropped the song earlier this week (February 22), extending a saga she began in 2022 with her single “help me, hold me, heal me.”
“If ‘help me, hold me, heal me’ is the call, ‘just right’ is the response,” she tells Vanyaland. “I definitely see the two songs as companion pieces. Both songs were written around the same time when I was starting to really practice self-empathy. ‘help me, hold me, heal me’ contains the panicked energy of my brain rushing around looking for reassurance on the questions, ‘is this okay?,’ ‘am I okay?’ The other side, ‘just right’ feels like the more stabilized evolution of those feelings. Instead of scrambling for someone else to tell me i’m okay, I reassure myself that I’m okay.”
“just right” come coupled with a one-day art installation called songspace, which will animate the healing atmosphere of “just right” tomorrow (February 25) at Bowdoin Underground in Medford. McCracken created the mini-exhibit by herself earlier this winter, using pink fabric and grocery store bouquets to complete her “in real life” vision for the song.
“It feels right to pair songspace specifically with ‘just right’ because the song is a lot like a room,” she explains. “It’s a place where you can step inside, and take on its energy, which is that of deep safety and comfort. If the room were ‘help me, hold me, heal me,’ it’d be a haunted house. You’d be dying to get out. ‘just right’ holds you like a hug from someone who’s always loved you and wants to watch you grow. The corresponding space will feel delightfully surreal— like all of your wildest, brightest, most extra imaginings can come true, and are good, actually.”
Almost like they’re just right.
Check out McCracken’s new song below, and grab a ticket to songspace here.