"Well, it's nice to have discovered another artist of depth and substance, especially in an age where it's easy to feel that almost none still exist... Jill Tracy: "the elegant side of the netherworld" - maybe "netherworld" has replaced "underground" now. No wonder Biafra had raved to me about her. The new music of the future will give us history lessons, and restore to us our lost authentic emotionality, in an age which J.G. Ballard has described as "the death of affect." The death of authentic emotionality and emotional response, indeed... NOT YET - not as long as a handful of people like Jill Tracy, Jello Biafra, Nick Cave, Henry Rollins, and Lydia Lunch keep "kicking against the pri-cks" (to paraphrase Shakespeare). And handing us reasons to still keep living and deciphering what we really feel..."
V.VALE, RE/Search PUBLICATIONS (read full review)


"Like a film noir femme fatale, Jill Tracy is gorgeous; ballerina thin and Victorian porcelain pale.....a stunningly hypnotic performer."
SF BAY GUARDIAN

"Jill Tracy draws you breathless and lustfully into her dark and sinister world; and it's a world unlike any other, for despite all the comparisons I could make (Edward Gorey & The Tiger Lillies, Tim Burton, Nick Cave writing true murder ballads for Nico), she is nonetheless quite unique. Her music is incredibly filmic in quality...But that's one of the beautiful things with this album; it's not just the music, not just the lyrics, not even just the mood & scene it sets, but the whole gorey picture it sets which gives a much fuller appreciation of how Jill views our world. For despite all it's old world pretentions, inspirations from the past, the vision is very much one of now. Diabolically wonderful." GLAMOURAMA- UK (read full review)

"Equal parts performance artist, evil MC, filmmaker, musician, and bad-ass icon...Fear not, Jill Tracy is here to deliver us."
SFist (read full interview)

"San Francisco's First Lady of Melancholia."
SF BAY GUARDIAN

"Stephen King once referred to Shirley Jackson as ‘the woman who never needed to raise her voice.’ And this perfectly describes Jill Tracy as well. Through haunting cabaret-style songs with clever and spooky lyrics, “Diabolical Streak” puts a chill down your spine that the most obscene words and heaviest amounts of gore could never achieve. Ranging from the jazzy “Evil Night Together” to the bone-chilling, “The Proof,” Jill Tracy’s soft and seductive voice is a dark and wonderful gem. I’m quite convinced that if Jackson were alive today, this would be her favorite album. "    iTUNES review

"A siren of the dark side...combining the intellectual eroticism of Baudelaire, and the cheerful ghoulishness of illustrator Ed Gorey, Jill Tracy spins intoxicating tales of mayhem. Plus, there’s -that VOICE!"
ARTE SIX (read full interview)

"When you hear Jill Tracy’s lush, sultry voice and experience the spooky melancholy of her lyrics, you’re hooked...you can’t escape the haunting and seductive powers of her macabre torch songs. As you listen, your will is no longer your own."
ELECTRONIC MUSICIAN

"I find Jill Tracy utterly intriguing. She transports you into a magical world solely of her creation. I love it!"
Susan Stamberg, host NPR’s ALL THINGS CONSIDERED

"an elegant and mysterious siren"
VILLAGE VOICE

"Jill Tracy is menacing yet bewitching, sexy yet eerie, creepy yet gorgeous, dangerous yet poetic.I'm enchanted with the amusing and fantastic nature of her work. It's like going into a really fun haunted house at the carnival and coming out with a World Series case of the goose bumps."
Beth Lisick, SF GATE

"one clever vamp"
USA TODAY

"One must be careful of Jill Tracy. The pale and shadowy chanteuse quickly draws you in with her noirish compositions; her songs are eerie and enticing, clever and clawing, and replete with gothic glamour. The San Francisco-based New York émigré’ likes her fare dark and bloody, sprinkled with cabaret charm, old-time chamber ragtime chops and an almost overpowering sense of seductive gloom."
"It's Witchcraft" PACIFIC SUN (read full article)

"...positively poetic...Jill Tracy has made an exquisite, even luscious record with Diabolical Streak...she wraps you with a smoky coo and as you soften under that sophisticated smirk you realize too late she's tied you to the third rail while the cobwebs descend and the seas fill with blood."
excerpt - "The House of Tudor" SF WEEKLY

"The Jill Tracy Experience. Not just fit for musicians or music buffs, she also consistently receives praise from film and theater directors, fine artists and authors. What they all have in common is an appreciation for her desire to keep, in her words, 'dark history alive.' "
PERFORMER Magazine

"It's an evocative sound, all right --and Jill Tracy has pretty much cornered the market on the genre. As a friend of mine described it, very Weltschmerz -- and I agreed with him, responding to the onomatopoeic quality of the word. Ultimately, I had to look it up in the dictionary and he was right. Next to the entry Weltschmerz in the dictionary there was a picture of Jill Tracy."
CONTRA COSTA TIMES

"Pianist-singer-composer Jill Tracy, oft-called "the femme fatale for the thinking man," begins the night by crooning one of her trademark dark ditties . "I'll keep my hand on your trigger finger/I'll hold you close while they dust for prints ..." She is dressed to kill in long black gloves, a black sequined flapper hat -- one spit-curl escaping just so -- and a black bustier. Men in the audience seem ready to die, gladly."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE (full story)

"Very distinctive and exciting..Jill Tracy sings with the kind of breathy intimacy that will fulfill your dreams of being tortured by beautiful women."
LA WEEKLY

"Jill Tracy- I thank you for your deliriously sweet and evil musical beauty, your unique talent and independant strength in these the days of not only the dumbing down of America, but the profoundly redundant state of music in general....
LYDIA LUNCH

"If there is any justice in this life, the world will discover Jill Tracy."
RAGE MAGAZINE

"Jill Tracy creates an elegant netherworld that is both seductive and terrifying."
CLIVE BARKER

"Jill Tracy is unique - a soul out of its time; intriguing, intelligent, sensual, and just diabolical enough to make you wonder? she enchants and tempts with a delicious sense of danger? Whatever I say, doesn't even come close to describing this CD (Diabolical Streak) and its creator properly- it is THAT GOOD ? It's unfathomable to me that some major label hasn't picked her up yet and kissed her feet... or why a big film maker like David Lynch hasn't contracted her to do film scores."
STARVOX MAGAZINE (read full review)

"elegant, eerie...deliciously macabre."
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

"In Diabolical Streak, Jill Tracy has created a timeless collection of songs that ushers the listener into a dark and magical realm. It's not safe here, but you won't be in any hurry to leave. This is a strangely alluring and subtly disturbing album that sneaks up on you, captures you with its unique style and mordant wit, and never quite turns you loose. Jill Tracy finds a compelling sensuality in everything, from the promise of one wicked night to the fiery end of the world. Beneath the breathy vocals and the force and filigree of Tracy's original piano lines lurks cold steel -- the woman has guts to spare, creating something so distinctive amidst the corporate musical mediocrity that's poisoning the culture. Jill Tracy is a wonderful antidote to that poison. Play this one late at night. See if you can find your way out alive."
CD BABY staff pick

"Jill Tracy does not seem to compose music. Rather, she is simply echoing through her voice and piano the music she hears in her head... Jill Tracy’s future is promising, no doubt due to accomplished performing ability and a vast, active imagination. Her public need not discover a stray nine of hearts to recognize an unmistakable magical quality about Ms. Tracy that completely defies explanation. One question that lingers, though, is whether Tracy is the player, the dealer, or both in this game of cosmic poker she plays. But let this question remain unanswered: the mystery of Tracy’s inspiration is her magic. Those who listen will be enchanted."
CLINT CATALYST (read full article)

"Song stylist and storyteller Jill Tracy is a great talent and captivated the audience with her moody pieces. I loved her quiet, sophisticated presence."
VAGINAL DAVIS, famed LA club impressario

"Marvellous...mind-numbingly and seductively good. Jill Tracy is the beaded-black brocade dress of music: sexy, rich and luxuriant. The song-writing is tight and clever, as well. Add Jill’s sultry, lush vocals to the mix and you’ve got a recipe for something volatile and intoxicating!"
GOTHLING.COM (full review)

"Extraordinary indeed. Jill Tracy's deft use of archaisms and affinity for things dusty and arcane, draws attention both to her music’s roots in another time and to its
timeless attraction."
PACIFIC SUN

"Jill Tracy purrs in a voice that is like the inhalation of clove cigarettes."
SF WEEKLY

"Ironically, it seems like the grunting, hamfisted fury (and its oppostie, the teenybopper bubblegum) that rules MTV and the pop airwaves is driving more and more listeners toward a new, subterranean vision of sophistication. They're learning what Jill Tracy has known all along--that depravity is most delicious when it's dressed up, and a sharp, elegant dagger can be deadlier than a big dumb chainsaw."
SHIFT MAGAZINE

"When Jill Tracy performs, she seems to float above the everyday fray; there’s something otherwordly about her--her long pale neck, lips dark against almost translucent skin...
cover story "Mysteria Woman" SF METROPOLITAN
and METRO SANTA CRUZ

"Jill Tracy has a finesse and poise rarely seen in live music performances…her lyrics, concise and meticulous, tell each song’s story with a strength and focus many strive for and few achieve when practicing the craft of songwriting. Mature and haunting, tracks on Diabolical Streak roll out like currents in an undertow, dragging the listener further and further out to sea."
CREAM PUFF MAGAZINE

"You could get drawn in (or drawn and quartered) by Jill Tracy and her Malcontent Orchestra..her elegant voice is a sultry moan, a breathy purr, a throaty siren's call. Tracy has a spine-tingling signature sound that's distinct and consistent without becoming monotonous, novel without becoming merely a novelty. She also does a mean version of "Paint it Black."
EAST BAY EXPRESS

"There are only so many albums that come hurtling at you like a freight train and completely knock the breath out of you. For me, Diabolical Streak is one of those albums... absolutely brilliant...It's seductive, it's creepy, and at the end you'll wish you had someone to lure into your own trap, because she makes it sound so perfect."
AMAZON.COM

"The best surprises are the ones that come completely out of nowhere. Here comes this chanteuse..., her hands deftly pouring over her piano and boom- we have brilliance. Jill Tracy commands your attention, her voice just dribbles down your back- to places you can't even scratch..."
MICHAEL OVERSTREET, WRAS-ATLANTA

"Like latter-day Marianne Faithfull and Marlene Dietrich, Jill Tracy knows her ouevre and her audience- it would appear she lives the life of which she sings and isn't just playing dress up (her wan visage would fit nicely onto one of Tim Burton's storyboards). Though it's been suggested she hints at everything from Eric Satie to the Cure, with her ragtime upright piano and a voice that slays as soon as it soothes, Tracy doesn't really sound like anyone but herself- though she might just be who Marilyn Manson turns into when he grows up."
ALL-MUSIC GUIDE

"eerie, sophisticated and cinematic, Jill Tracy is a gorgeous siren whose voice is filled with menace and mystery."
SF METROPOLITAN

"Breathy, teasing, eerie, erotic, hauntingly sultry, notoriously seductive...Jill Tracy brings to mind visions of absinthe-soaked cabarets, dreamy opium dens and the opulence of times gone by.......Yummy!"
MONDAY MAGAZINE (Canada)

"With her smoky croon, dark lyrics and singular performance style that drifts between ragtime and classical, Jill Tracy is gaining a reputation for her exquisitely dramatic performances."
SF EXAMINER

"...a unique brand of dark idiosyncratic pop cabaret..... Jill Tracy is fey and sexy."
SAN FRANCISCO MAGAZINE

"...very original...Diabolical Streak crafts dark and haunting, at times chamber appropriate gems."
SF BAY GUARDIAN

"Lyrically, Jill Tracy’s work is every bit as naughty as the brainless, bombastic transgressions of the likes of Marilyn Manson and Limp Bizkit. But with her refined elegance and roots in jazz, film noir supper clubs and turn of the century circus sideshows, Tracy exemplifies a far more cosmopolitan approach to sin. Instead of raw angst, her music is full of smoldering cultivated grace, piquant with the hint of a sly smile. Her voice is alternately sweet and raspy, coyly curling around her macabre lyrics like wisps of smoke from the end of a long cigarette."
SHIFT MAGAZINE

"If Andy Warhol were with us today, he’d be a big Jill Tracy fan. If you haven’t tripped through the stylish side of the underground, Jill Tracy is a self-styled singer/songwriter/pianist who is truly alternative- and without the help of distortion drenched guitars. Her music is dark yet uplifting, avant-garde yet traditional, and mesmerizing yet personable.
Although mostly self-taught, Tracy employs virtuoso movements and a well-crafted technique. She demonstrates a genius in her piano playing that challenges conventional definitions of pop music, and there is a transcendent emotion in both her singing and playing."
BAM

"Jill Tracy hearkens back to a different time; a more noble time filled with mysteries of dark and enigmatic figures...Imagine such eerie story telling set to old silent film music with a twist of noire and the seductive tones pouring out of Tracy's smooth vocal style. Jill Tracy creatively arranges her music using the combination of old world instruments like Arabic string instruments, and conventional orchestral woodwinds like the bassoon to the standard jazz trio: piano, bass and drums."
RED BUTTON