Heart on her sleeve
Paris Jackson goes alternative for solo debut
Wilted Paris Jackson Republic Records
Paris Jackson says her musical influences when growing up with dad Michael ranged from Motown to classical music, but the style she has embraced for her first album is alternative and folksy.
If people do not like it, the 22-year-old musician is cool with that, saying she has quit trying to please other people.
“I've kind of reached the point where I've realized that someone is always going to have something negative to say. So I might as well be myself,” Jackson said. “I hope people like it but if they don't, that's OK.”
Her new album, Wilted, marks the first solo album by Paris Jackson, who was raised by her grandmother after her father's death in 2009.
The album's 11 tracks, with lowercase titles like let down, repair and collide, reflect the emotional upheaval of her journey from bereaved 11-year-old, through an adolescence marked by mental health and drug issues, to young adulthood.
“Everyone has gone through heartbreak and pain in some form or another. If my music makes one person feel acknowledged and heard, then I've done my job,” she said.
Jackson, who plays acoustic guitar, has a thriving career as a model and has also worked as an actress. But she says creating music has “always been a really healthy outlet for me.”
Growing up she listened to a wide range of music.
“There was soul and R&B and blues and jazz and the Motown stuff ...
“My father also played a lot of classical music around the house, movie soundtracks, even the radio Top 40,” she said. “But the vibe I'm kind of going for now, along with keeping the folk roots, is a little bit more alternative and I'm taking from bands from the early 2000s,” she said.
Asked what she thought her famous father would say about her career and the new album, Jackson responded: “If I had to guess, it would probably be something along the lines of `I love you and I'm happy that you're happy.'”