Imagine: your phone lights up and it’s three-time Grammy-winning Boygenius member Lucy Dacus. That’s exactly what happened to Jasmine.4.t, the Manchester-based artist who had her life changed by a single text. “Out of the blue, I got a message saying ‘Hey, I’ve just got authorisation to invite you to open for me on tour in Europe for my next album’,” she recalls to NME over Zoom. “My bandmate and I opened for Lucy on her ‘Historian’ tour – it was so much fun. I introduced Lucy to Greggs!”
The friendship Jasmine.4.t (real name Jasmine Cruickshank) formed with Dacus over that whirlwind tour in 2018 led Lucy’s Boygenius bandmate Phoebe Bridgers to discover her brilliant, breezy songs. In what felt like an unbelievable scenario, in early 2024 Cruickshank found herself on a video call with Bridgers gushing about her work. She was then snapped up by Bridgers’ label Saddest Factory Records [Claud, MUNA], becoming its first UK signee.
“What more could you want as a queer musician? To be signed to Saddest Factory is a dream come true,” Cruickshank says affectionately. “Phoebe has fought my corner and has gotten me so many opportunities. It comes from a place of friendship but also a place of solidarity. I feel like those guys really get how shit is for trans women, especially in this country. I think they are kind of unsung heroes.”
On her debut album, ‘You Are The Morning’, Cruickshank vulnerably shares stories of emotional upheaval, community and the safety of t4t (trans for trans) love. Her intimate writing stems from lived experiences, some harder to discuss than others. In ‘Elephant’, she beautifully recalls queer longing between friends that ache for something more: “The silences it’s all too much / It does feel different when you’re close enough to touch”.
“[‘You Are The Morning’] is a recognition of the potential that trans people and queer people have to change the world”
The emotional honesty of Cruickshank’s work stems from a free-flowing creative process: “A lot of my songs start as voice memos of me talking or singing about my feelings.” The thoughtful catharsis of her writing makes it feel like it’s been siphoned from a private diary. On ‘Best Friend’s House’, her poignant lyrics capture that special feeling of safety and comfort with your chosen family: “With the curtains closed / And nothing in my head / There I am safe”.
Cruickshank played in punk bands in her native Bristol and even co-founded the label Breakfast Records with her friends there. But her life took a turn in 2020: facing long-term health impacts of myalgic encephalomyelitis and COVID, she underwent heart surgery and was bed-bound for six months. Caught between recovery and an unstable marriage, Cruickshank found herself closeted and unable to write. It wasn’t until she escaped to Manchester she was able to create new music. “As I transitioned, the floodgates opened and I was able to write and accept myself.”
With the support of her queer and trans chosen family, Cruickshank found catharsis and escapism in her art. “I got a lot of help from my community. Octavia, an incredible trans songwriter based in Manchester, really helped me decide which tracks to put on the record,” she says. On the album, Cruickshank is backed by Phoenix Rousiamanis on piano and strings, Eden O’Brien on drums and Emily Abbott on bass on ‘You Are The Morning’ – this band, all trans women, also perform with her live.
Credit: Matt Grub
This close collaboration and camaraderie almost didn’t happen, Cruickshank reveals. It’s likely ‘You Are The Morning’ would have been a self-released solo project if it hadn’t been for Joe Sherrin from Bristol band Mould, who nudged her to submit it to Saddest Factory Records. “He’s kind of in the Dead Oceans world, it was really him that recommended that I should go for that,” she shares. Enter: Boygenius. After submitting her record, Cruickshank found herself quickly taken in by the trio, who flew her out to Los Angeles to workshop the project at Sound City Studio.
“There were so many incredible moments of watching how much they love and respect each other,” Cruickshank recalls. “I want to make music for the rest of my life with those guys. I fucking love those guys so much. They all brought such incredibly different things to the studio. Phoebe is so incredible at harmony and the craft of a song, the performance and was giving me such good notes. Lucy has the biggest impact on the editing of the lyrics and helping with the performance. Julien [Baker] brought so much with the guitar and I could never do that by myself.”
As her album wades into the vulnerable reality of queer intimacy, Cruickshank wants to make the most of the platform Saddest Factory has given her to speak out about LGBTQIA+ issues in the UK. “It’s a very dark time for trans people in this country,” she warns. “We’ve got Wes Streeting banning puberty blockers for trans children, which are proven to save lives and are safe. I feel a great responsibility to bring this conversation to the mainstream if I can.”
“What more could you want as a queer musician? To be signed to Saddest Factory is a dream come true”
Cruickshank’s passion about the political treatment of trans and queer people is palpable. “Right now, it feels like trans people and queer people are very much on the frontline of the fight against the international rise of fascism,” she says. “We’ve seen so many trans people be part of the fight to dismantle machines of violence around the world. We are making history. We will be remembered as the people who are making a stand and having solidarity internationally.
“That’s what ‘You Are The Morning’ means: it’s a recognition of the potential that trans people and queer people have to change the world and bring about a brighter future.”
Jasmine.4.t’s ‘You Are The Morning’ is out January 17 via Saddest Factory Records
The post Jasmine.4.t on collaborating with community, and “unsung heroes” Boygenius, on her intimate debut album appeared first on NME.
