Jess Cerro, the Sydney singer-songwriter who crafts evocative pop songs under the moniker of Montaigne, creates music that has a thrilling waywardness, baroque pomp and storm-the-stage energy. On the 24-year-old's second album, the just released Complex, she eschews angst for artistic flourishes. If it sounds larger than life, it's because that's the point.
"I understand that all the songs I write are quite melodramatic and are quite extreme from my perspective, but that's how life feels to everyone at some point," says Cerro. "All of us feel, I think, that our experiences can be the worst possible thing you can go through and that we're alone in it, which is isolating and intense and insurmountable. But we can get over it."
Jess Cero, who performs as Montaigne, had a “don’t be a dickhead” rule when recording new album Complex.
Complex is a prime example of that. With its lancing critiques of the people who dallied with Cerro's emotions and sharp self-analysis, the album is a study of what Cerro calls "terrible relationships". Some tracks were written in the moment of utmost emotional pain, others in the wake, but together they sound like someone – with some strut and strings – putting the worst behind them.
"I feel mostly like I've moved on from that part of my life and those hang-ups," says Cerro. "I still have insecurities, and probably some new ones, but I feel like I can now construct a sense of self-worth after dealing with all the stuff on the record. That was really healthy and it yielded healthy results."
"As of two weeks ago I'm dating my best friend, who is one of the greatest humans of all time," she adds. "He is wonderful, wise, and brilliant and wonderful at communicating and just the best."
Cerro was raised in the Hills district, moved to Surry Hills when she was 19 pursuing a music career, and now enjoys the suburban quiet of St Peters in the inner west. She's open to change and serious about expressing herself, being clear about her bisexuality in early interviews or attending the ARIA Awards with "#Stop Adani" lettered on her cheeks.
"I have so much time. I read a lot, I write a lot, and I have conversations with people I think are intelligent and wise," she says. "My biggest strength in life is that I'm good at learning and I'm really good at admitting when I'm wrong and recalibrating my perspective."
Complex, the follow-up to her breakthrough 2016 hit debut Glorious Heights, saw Cerro working with a range of producers, starting with long-time collaborator Tony Buchen but encompassing lengthy stretches in Los Angeles with the likes of Dave Sitek (TV on the Radio, Yeah Yeah Yeahs) and Wynne Bennett (Janelle Monae). The guidelines, she notes, are simple, but the benefits are far-reaching.
"The blanket rule is don't be a dickhead," Cerro says. "No ego in the room – if that creeps in then things get muddied and tense, you can't be vulnerable or develop the creative intimacy and trust that's needed.
"Pop music is really fun. It's exciting and cool and life is mundane and humdrum most of the time. So why not do something a little wacky and fantastical," she adds. "It's important to elevate the experience of life into something glorious and wonderful and even a little transcendental. I think that's an important part of being human."
Montaigne plays the Metro Theatre, city, on November 29.
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