Justin Sconza's Standards Feels Like a Record You’ve Always Known, But Never Heard

Justin Sconza's music is meant to be absorbed, not consumed. In a singles-driven world, he's an artist who treats his work more like a novel than a short story. It's a bold strategy, but one I'm completely on board with!

Based in Chicago, Justin recently unleashed album number five, Standards. A ten-track offering of tunes the musician has been playing live for years, but never properly recorded, it's a record that embraces a raw analog warmth. It feels "lived in" in the best possible way, perfectly exemplified in the album's dreamy opener If I Could Do It All Over Again.

Broken Glass is the record's second song, and it's an upbeat little ditty the artist describes as being "a meditation on resisting the pull of nostalgia and looking forward instead". Lonely Monica then makes its appearance, and gives off whiffs of The Beatles and even a little Rolling Stones.

Other personal favourites include the utterly beautiful Pretty Picture, the laid-back and contemplative In Real Life, and the album's cinematic closer Timeless. If I'm being honest, though, Broken Glass deserves your full attention from start to finish. Immerse yourself in it, and don't merely consume it. 

Follow Justin Sconza on Instagram