FROM THE PRESS
“Jill Tracy is the cult darling of the Underworld”
LA WEEKLY
“The femme fatale for the thinking man”
SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
“Jill Tracy is utterly intriguing. She transports you into a magical world solely of her creation.”
NPR, ALL THINGS CONSIDERED
“With a gaggle of acclaim already encircling her, there is little left to say about the gothic cabaret tour de force that is musician Jill Tracy. A darling of the critics and her peers (Lydia Lunch herself has bestowed glittering praise on Tracy.) Playing the dual roles of self-assured vixen and enigmatic storyteller, Tracy has seduced an army of followers with compositions detailing torture, revenge, poison and the blindsided nature of love, all delivered by her intoxicating voice.”
BARCELONA CITY GUIDE (Spain)
“Chanteuse fatale Jill Tracy has become the icon of the dark glam scene.”
SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER
“An elegant and mysterious siren.”
VILLAGE VOICE
“Intriguing. I’m speechless… Jill Tracy is the closest there has ever come
to a female David Bowie.”
LA FEE VERTE
“There’s just something about the inimitable Jill Tracy that makes us swoon like a passel of naive gothic horror heroines in too-tight corsets. Is it her husky midnight lover’s croon, her deceptively delicate visage, her vintage sensibilities? Who else could have written the definitive elegy on the “fine art of poisoning,” composed a hauntingly lush live score for F.W. Murnau’s classic silent film Nosferatu, joined forces with that merry band of bloodthirsty malcontents, Thrillpeddlers, and still somehow remain a shining beacon of almost beatific grace? Part tough-as-nails film fatale, part funeral parlor pianist, Tracy manages to adopt many facades yet remain ever and only herself—a precarious and delicious balancing act.”
SAN FRANCISCO BAY GUARDIAN, Best of the Bay awards issue
“Rooted in film, Jill Tracy’s musical career keeps returning her, darkly, to the screen… Inspired musically by Hitchcock composer Bernard Hermann, and visually by the shadowy black and white imagery of film noir, Jean Cocteau, F.W. Murnau and Fritz Lang, Jill Tracy combines a dramatic piano style that moves from morose to ragtime with seductive, perfectly enunciated captivating vocals. Jill Tracy radiates intelligence with a sophisticated, eerie sensibility… Classical, timeless.”
SACRAMENTO BEE
“Profoundly beautiful, Jill Tracy is a magical masterful storyteller.”
BONS VICIUS (Portugal)
“With an affinity for darkness, but with melodic forms that express twisted romance, Jill Tracy evokes soundtracks by Bernard Hermann (the accomplice of Alfred Hitchcock) and songs that move with shivery cinematic suspense, amidst tales of lost grandeur. Works of languid beauty…Exquisite.”
EL PERIODICO, BARCELONA (Spain)
“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
“stunning…Jill Tracy is a Marlene Dietrich-esque Bay Area icon.”
LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Jill Tracy’s always been one of our faves; a gothic glamour girl who tickles the ivories like bones, and sings dashing ditties about all our favorite themes—torture, poison, the apocalypse, the hopeless nature of love, the sweetness of revenge. She’s the swellest siren this side of the Stygian divide, and her hypnotic allure is unmatched by mere mortals.”
SF BAY GUARDIAN
“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 (Jello) 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
“Jill Tracy creates an elegant netherworld both seductive and terrifying.”
CLIVE BARKER
“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
“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
“Think of Jill Tracy’s music as the soundtrack for Union Station filmed in black and white during the eerie build-up to a startlingly romantic plot twist. Describing her sound as “the elegant side of the netherworld,” Tracy has a voice that prompts images of spirits haunting art deco hallways and a knack for writing songs that unfold like the story lines of F.W. Murnau movies that were never made.”
LA 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, ‘the dark corners of history alive.’ ”
PERFORMER MAGAZINE
“Jill Tracy has a voice that is pure, triple-distilled, weapons-level sex.”
Chris Lowrance, YIN SOAKED BOY
“The vamp’s vamp! All velvet purr and black key shivers, the Duchess of Cabaret Noir. Jill Tracy’s piano playing is magical, so sensitive and beautiful, it blows me away.”
DAVID J (Bauhaus/Love and Rockets)
“There’s something otherworldly about Jill Tracy. She has a poise, finesse and enigmatic quality rarely seen these days—she effortlessly floats above the fray.”
SANTA CRUZ METRO
SELECTED INTERVIEWS:
It’s Always Night at the Bottom of the Sea: Jill Tracy interview in Absenta Musical
Jill Tracy discusses her work with the legendary Mütter Museum in Chain D.L.K Magazine
Jill Tracy interview in SEPIACHORD
I’ll Hold Your Hand While They Drag the River: An Interview with Jill Tracy in TOR
Jill Tracy cover story for CONSTELLATION MAGAZINE
Jill Tracy chats with Morbid Curiosity Magazine editor Loren Rhoads for RED ROOM
The Elegant Side of the Netherworld: Jill Tracy Interview in LA WEEKLY
A Musical Seance: Spirit in the Song: Jill Tracy cover story in SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE
Haunted by the Thought of Jill Tracy: COILHOUSE
Jill Tracy interview in CULTURE FLUX MAGAZINE
Woman of Mystery: Jill Tracy Interview in SFist
Jill Tracy interview in ARTE SIX
Mysteria Woman: Jill Tracy cover story in METROPOLITAN
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