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Music

Style Rider: Lower Dens' Jana Hunter Keeps It "Simple and Sharp"

"I need my clothes to frame the performance, not speak for me."

Photo courtesy of Dan Keenan

Baltimore, Maryland’s Lower Dens make synth-kissed dream pop nuggets that feel curiously time displaced, like the music of the 80s filtered through the technology of today, or vice versa. February’s Escape from Evil presented their most accomplished song cycle to date; it’s concise and sparing, every building block existing in service to driving home a soaring hook. We spoke to proudly gender fluid lead singer and producer Jana Hunter about style and finding inspiration in legends who blurred similar lines in eras past. "Lately I look to 80s-era David Bowie and Annie Lennox, but more often I’m going off of intuition," Hunter says, but that doesn’t mean those singular looks come easy. "Style and any other visual component, any aesthetic representation, doesn't come as naturally to me as music. Which isn't to say that the music isn't something I have to work for, but only that I have less experience constructing imagery and visual aesthetic and so the way that it communicates is more mysterious to me."

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To smooth the process along, Hunter plotted the Escape from Evil tour aesthetic as the album came together: "While we wrote I collected images—art, photography, and fashion—that felt intuitively connected to the music. By the time the record was done I felt like I had a sense of how I wanted to present myself on stage and how I wanted to introduce the record visually, and then of course the artwork for the record, done by our friend Hermonie Williams, had a huge part in defining that." How’d it turn out? "Simple and sharp. I love dressing the fuck up, but on stage I need my clothes to frame the performance, not speak for me." "Know that you are much more than your clothes or gender or however else you are 'read' by people," Lower Dens bassist Geoff Graham interjects, "but that getting spruced in a certain way helps you get your message across. It's sort of like putting on your suit and tie to go to church because it makes your grandma happy." Take a look at five of Jana Hunter's onstage style essentials below.

Champion Jacket

"Courtesy UO"

Denim Jacket

"Haven't really worn this yet but I already know it'll be a staple."

Black Striped Sweater

"In the band we affectionately call this top the 'Wesley Crusher.'"

Trusty Shoes

"I've been wearing only these shoes on stage. Class when I need a lift and the dirty vans when I need grounding."

White Tuxedo Shirt

"This is far and away my favorite. Wish I had ten of them. This shirt is a perfect cut for me and says only what I need it to say, and like I said dresses me up instead of speaking for me. Send me tux shirts care of Ribbon Music, fashion patrons of the music world."

Lower Dens' latest album Escape from Evil is out now on Ribbon Music.