Tessa Rose Jackson, a Dutch-British indie-pop artist, has unveiled her new single 'Built to Collide' as a preview of her upcoming album 'The Lighthouse'. The track builds from dreamy guitars and playful strings to a rapid drum climax, offering a lighthearted take on human flaws. Jackson describes it as a 'rant song' celebrating the acceptance of repeated mistakes.
Tessa Rose Jackson, now 33, first gained recognition at 19 with her 2013 debut album '(Songs From) The Sandbox'. Over the following decade, she explored experimental sounds under the moniker Someone, releasing the 'Orbit' EP in 2019, 'Orbit II' in 2020, 'Shapeshifter' in 2021, and 'Owls' in 2023. Her work draws from influences like Air, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Carole King, Feist, and Tame Impala, incorporating augmented reality and immersive performances. This single follows her previous releases 'Fear Bangs The Drum' and 'By Morning' from last year, signaling the approach of 'The Lighthouse', due later this month. Written during a retreat in rural France, the album delves into themes of ancestry, belonging, mortality, memory, and gratitude. It blends ghostly folklore with spectral folk and cinematic alt-pop elements, reflecting on death as both inescapable and life-celebrating. Jackson, raised in Amsterdam by two lesbian mothers and having lost one parent young, shares: “The Lighthouse felt like a beacon. It’s an album that talks about death, but not in a purely dark sense. For me, it’s also about the celebration of life – embracing fears, identity, and the stories we inherit.” On 'Built to Collide', she adds: “This is my rant song. A song about accepting that sometimes you live and you don’t learn. It’s human nature to mess up, to sometimes fall into the old mistakes you thought you’d grown out of. This song is my celebration of this and an invitation to slightly poke fun at yourself. Thought you’d know better by now? Well guess what, you don’t! Dust yourself off, have a little laugh and move on.” After the album's launch, Jackson will tour Europe, starting January 29, 2026, at Glasgow's The Glad Cafe, with stops in Brighton, London, Bristol, Manchester, Tynemouth, Edinburgh, Paris, Amsterdam, Berlin, Hamburg, and Cologne through March 25.
