Jacob Earl

Secret Skin, by Jacob Earl from the album Chop Off The Head

6 years ago I released Chop Off The Head. I recorded 20 songs and pared it down to 15. Secret Skin was one of the first and favs. It's a great glitch-rap synth uke bop that I originally wanted @dangerously.ca on but it didn't pan out. But I love my lyrics and delivery on this song, so it worked out.

Underground, by Jacob Earl from the album The Joy

8 years ago today I released my mini album, The Joy. With only 4 songs and clocking in around 15 minutes, it is one of my shorter albums, and probably one of my least favs. The standout track is Underground, a sparse minimalist electro beat with repetitive mantra-like lyrics and a looping uke riff.

Insomnia, by Jacob Earl from the album ANXIETY

7 years ago I released my shortest album, ANXIETY. It's a concept piece about struggles with mental health and embracing neurodivergence. Each of the 10 songs is only 1 minute long for easy digestion. One of my favs is Insomnia; autobiographical, as I used to suffer a lot with chronic sleep issues.

Blood Of A Young Wolf, by Jacob Earl from the album BLOOD BLOOD

4 years ago I released my album BLOOD BLOOD, a collection of cover songs. It includes my interpretations of tracks by Arab Strap, Young Fathers, Charlotte Cardin, Songs: Ohia, Okkervil River, and more. One of my favs is my ukulele version of Blood Of A Young Wolf by Canadian hip hop artist Buck 65.

Ghost Stories, by Jacob Earl and Damn Selene 2 track album

6 years ago I released the double single Ghost Stories: two tracks originally composed circa 2015 and co-written with my friend Damn Selene, who wrote the lyrics and did vocals while I produced the music. This became the first single for my album Chop Off The Head. These ditties are short and sweet.

Byzantium, by Jacob Earl from the album Reincarnations

8 years ago I released Reincarnations, a redux of a serial electronica blog I originally released 2009-2013. The concept is love through the ages in different reincarnations. Byzantium was about the philosopher Philo, imagining him falling in love and having a tryst while writing engineering works.

Winter, by Jacob Earl from the album The Post.Script Project

Yesterday was the 25th anniversary of The Post.Script Project; a weekend in a studio with my best buds helping me create my first "solo" effort. Winter was recorded with me on bass, Ozzy on drums and guitar, and Jennifer on vox. She did about 4 or 5 takes, and Dave strung them all together expertly.

Choke, by Jacob Earl from the album Horizontals

Recently I wrote about my serial album Horizontals, originally released in blog format 2010-13. The 3rd track, Choke, came 15 years ago and is maybe my fav song I made during this time. It was one of my first forays into rap-adjacent music and I love my vocals, beatmaking, and live instrumentation.

Promises, Promises, by Jacob Earl from the album GIFTS

Today is the 3-year anniversary of my album GIFTS; a dark and grieving reflection on giving and receiving. Promises, Promises is a plodding, dirge-like waltz, underpinned with lilting ukulele strums and wailing clarinet.
"Wanting the Rapture didn't bring it
Hope doesn't come just 'cuz you sing it".

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, by Jacob Earl from the album YAWN

Yesterday was the 2-year anniversary of YAWN. The album tag-line is "An exploration of dark nothingness". I got very sick in 2022 and also lost my heartdog. When I came out the other end, my depression and grief consumed me. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie, with its angry riffs and sad lyrics, sums it all up.

Fairytales, by Sonora from the album Road 44

Road 44 came out 23 years ago today. At 6 songs, it's a seemingly short album, but packs a wallop with over 30 minutes of blistering wall-of-noise concept pop. Fairytales is an early piece we composed together; at least 2 demo versions exist, and I still love the lyrics and driving bassline I wrote.

Wild Life, by Jacob Earl from the album Dark Dreams

5 years ago I released Dark Dreams, a short album of new versions of older songs. Wild Life was originally released in 2008 on my album Old Habits Die Hard. The first two stanzas are tattoed on my arms as a memento mori to my uncle who passed away of Cancer in 2007. The song is about living for now.

Curtains Drawn, by Jacob Earl from the album D4N13L

A year ago I released D4N13L, my 56th album; an autobiography of grief and sickness. It took me a year and a half to make and I almost shelved it. The final track on the album is Curtains Drawn, a minimalist soundscape with spoken word style vox, about all the time I spent in the hospital last year.

Where I live, non-compete clauses are illegal (Ontario, Canada). Companies are not allowed to prevent you from seeking any kind of gainful employment in similar industry. It still happens, but the clauses are illegal and not enforceable.

Gods in the City, by Jacob Earl from the album Horizontals

It is the 12th anniversary of Horizontals: A serial blog I started in 2010, and released as an album in 2013. Gods In The City is my fav song; I love the atmospheric synths, the crisp vox, and the dark sentiments about spirituality, relationships, and gentrification. Originally released March 2011.

Hintonburner (feat. Jesse Dangerously), by Jacob Earl from the album March Hawk

13 years ago today I dropped a rap-glitch album March Hawk. It's thematically about living and growing up in Ottawa. The standout track was my first collab with @jessedangerously.bsky.social - Hintonburner. It's a smokin' good brackish beat I made from an old sampler record, and our lyrics are fire!

Old Habits Die Hard, by Jacob Earl from the album Old Habits Die Hard

17 years ago I released Old Habits Die Hard, the 2nd in a series of 3 albums in 2008, about death and growing up. It is lyrically, compositionally, and production-wise a turning point in my music that still holds up today. Thus I don't have a fav song, but the title track encompasses the mood aptly.

Calamity, by Jacob Earl from the album DELICATE BEAST

My new 59th album DELICATE BEAST is out today! My fav track is Calamity. It's a dark song about loneliness and regrets, drenched in a Southern goth country vibe. The album began with this song, and I love how it formed over 6 months into a cohesive story. I especially like the clarinet on Calamity.

Adam, by Jesse Dangerously; Jacob Earl from the album After The Flood

10 years ago I released the cassette version of After The Flood with @jessedangerously.bsky.social. Adam is a song I wrote and brought a demo of to Jesse, who promptly suggested I give up vox duties to the real rap legend. The result is Jesse doing vox with me doing minor backing vox, and it rocks.

The Long Nap, by Jacob Earl from the album GIFTS

It has been 3 years since I said goodbye to my dog Jelly Bean. GIFTS was a hard album to make; like a love letter to her. The final stanza of the last song, The Long Nap, sums it up:
The long nap is a twisted road
I had to shoulder that load
Time for you to sleep, my Bean
Time for the forever dream

Absolutely. I have been a public servant in IT since 1999. That's how I make a living. Music costs me money, it doesn't make me money. My all time Bandcamp earnings in 15 years = $318. Streaming services about half that.

Didn't You Just Want, by Jacob Earl from the album The Holy Fire

The Holy Fire is 3 years old today! The tagline is "20 songs about spiritual and existential angst". It's a b-sides album recorded over 15 months as outtakes from Silly Little Sacrifices and Drumz And A Baalloonn. But Didn't You Just Want predates them; I started it in 2020; a sparse synth bop gem.

The Choice I Will Not Make, by Divinity Burst from the album Tranced

Tranced turns 26 years old today. I wrote these songs over half a lifetime ago. The Choice I Will Not Make is one of the earliest songs I crafted, some time in 1998. It's a lament of youthful indecision. I originally wrote it on acoustic, but eventually brought it to the band and played bass on it.

Eve, by Jacob Earl from the album After The Flood

Yesterday was the 10th anniversary of After The Flood, my 2nd concept album with @jessedangerously.bsky.social about Margaret Atwood's MaddAddam trilogy (along with Before The Flood). Eve is one of my fav songs I've written. I play it on ukulele these days, but the original is all programmed synths.

Shuffled (feat. Robo-Robb & Jesse Dangerously), by Jacob Earl from the album If The Dust Was Your Feelings, I Guess I Was On My Own

7 years ago today I released IF THE DUST WAS YOUR FEELINGS, I GUESS I WAS ON MY OWN; a musical autobiography. Shuffled is a collab with @jessedangerously.bsky.social and @roborobb.bsky.social - they came to my home studio and we laid down this total bop, with Robb on lyrics/vox and Jesse on uke/vox.

Wrestling Demons, by Jacob Earl from the album FAM

Another track from my new album FAM: Wrestling Demons. Clocking in at six minutes, the longest song on the album, and one of the best. It's about death of family. Funerals and wakes and tears of anger and joy and love and despair. It's understated, with dirge-like acoustics, shakers, and harmonica.

Relatable Cacophony, by Jacob Earl from the album FAM

Today I released my 58th album, FAM. It's sad and a bit angry, but really a beautiful love letter to my chosen family. Relatable Cacophony is a song about a waking dream, a nostalgic memory about someone who never really existed. It's achingly good, one of my best songs to date, simple and acoustic.

Moonbell, by Sonora from the album Road 44

I wrote Moonbell 25 years ago. My bandmate Wil came up with the title. The song is an autobiographical recounting of a house party we hosted when me and my bandmates lived together, about me and a dear friend. More importantly it's the hardest AF bassline you will ever hear, and I wrote/played it.

Sonora, by Sonora from the album Road 44

This August 2025 marks 23 years since the release of Road 44, the dreampop journey forged by my band Sonora after the breakup of our first band when the original drummer left. Sonora was our eponymous song; a 7-minute crushing wall of beauty noise I wrote from a childhood visit to the Sonora desert.

Do You Want To Save Me?, by Jacob Earl from the album I Disappear In The City

Another track from I Disappear In The City: Do You Want To Save Me? This song is a slow sad waltz about me embracing depression not as a sickness, but simply an essence of who I am. A recurring theme in my music (and life) is how mental health is put on display in art as entertainment and adverts.