B-Side Guys

There’s something particularly haunting about Jessica Ever’s latest release “Ugly & Out of It,” a track that doesn’t just depict disconnection—it embodies it through carefully crafted sonic architecture. The Chicago-based indie rocker’s second single from her forthcoming LP masterfully balances dreamy textures with raw emotional punch.

The track begins with restrained instrumentation before breaking open at the 43-second mark, where shimmering guitars cascade into a fuller arrangement that reveals Ever’s influences without becoming derivative. The polished yet gritty production evokes Courtney Love’s more refined Celebrity Skin era while maintaining connections to contemporary voices like Indigo De Souza.

Ever’s lyrics excavate the particular emptiness of urban isolation: “We ride trains around to feel alive just for a moment/It’s not glamorous, but it’s alright, we’re on a budget.” These aren’t just observations—they’re desperate attempts to feel something in a world that has grown increasingly alienating. The winter setting becomes both literal backdrop and metaphor for emotional frigidity: “Lately I can feel alone no matter who is with me/And it’s becoming clear to me that it’s not just the weather.”

The song’s production mirrors this emotional journey—moments of intimacy contrasted with walls of sound that swell particularly during the track’s climax at 2:41. This surge of instrumentation gives way to an ethereal outro starting at 3:02 that feels like dissociation made audible, enhancing the lyrical refrain of “I, I, I, I’m not here” that pulses hypnotically as the track concludes.

What makes “Ugly & Out of It” particularly striking is how Ever captures the persistent ache of disconnection that lingers in our supposedly reopened world. When she sings “I start to disappear, the more you draw me near/The more I feel like I’m not here,” she articulates the paradoxical nature of modern isolation—sometimes feeling most absent when physically present with others.

Chicago’s bitter winters provide both setting and emotional temperature for this exploration of alienation, with Ever crafting a soundscape as multifaceted as the emotional terrain she navigates. The result is a song that resonates with anyone who’s found themselves feeling simultaneously visible yet unseen.